The #1 La Roche University and #2 Penn State Behrend women's basketball teams each earned victories in the AMCC semifinals Friday evening to advance to the AMCC Championship game.
La Roche 83, Hilbert 49
Top-seeded La Roche outplayed #5 Hilbert from the tip, cruising to an 83-49 victory and punching their ticket to the AMCC Championship game tomorrow afternoon. The Redhawks opened the scoring on a Makayla Abram jump shot before outscoring the Hawks 19-9 in the opening quarter. La Roche then put up 20 points to Hilbert's three in the second quarter, taking a 38-12 lead into the locker room at halftime. Machia Hairston led all scorers in the first half with 15 points, shooting 6-for-12 from the field and 3-for-3 from long range. The second half was much of the same, as La Roche held a 29-17 advantage in the third quarter with Abram scoring 14 of her own that quarter alone. The Hawks put a fight in the final quarter, outscoring the Redhawks 20-15, setting the final score at 83-49. Leading the La Roche offense was Hairston with 19 points to along with seven rebounds and three assists, while Abram added 18 points and five rebounds. Ashley Schroeder paced Hilbert with 19 points and seven rebounds.
Penn State Behrend 83, Pitt-Greensburg 71
The game stayed tight throughout the first quarter, with the Lions holding the biggest lead at the 4:36 mark when they went up by six on a Madilyn Boyer free throw. The Bobcats pulled within one on an Ashley Barker three-pointer, but the Lions pulled finished the quarter strong to take a five point lead (22-17) after one. Pitt-Greensburg fought back again in the second quarter as they pulled ahead at the 7:59 mark on a Sidney McCully free throw. The Bobcats clung to a narrow lead throughout the remainder of the quarter outscoring Behrend 27-18 in the second to take a 44-40 lead at halftime. Pitt-Greensburg's McCully led all scorers in the first half with 12, while Behrend's Rachel Majewski led the Lions with 10 first half points. The third quarter went in favor of Behrend, as the Lions outscored the Bobcats 23-12 to take the seven point, 63-56, advantage heading into the final quarter. Behrend held on strong throughout the final quarter, going up by as many as 17 on a Majewski three-pointer with 3:54 remaining in the game. The Bobcats were never able to close in on the Lions' double-digit lead, eventually falling to the Lions 83-71. Majewski led all scorers with 29 points to go along with eight rebounds. Morgan Altavilla added 19 points for the Lions with Boyer contributing 12 points, six rebounds, and four assits. Brianna Dean had game-highs with 12 rebounds and nine assists. McCully led the Bobcats with 17 points while Maietta added 14.
La Roche and Behrend will clash at 4:00pm Saturday afternoon for the AMCC title game with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.