PITTSBURGH, Pa. – After both teams survived a 4.5 hour delay in play due to a city-wide power outage, the Hilbert College women's basketball team captured their second consecutive Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship Title, earning a 64-54 victory over Penn State Behrend in the Kerr Fitness Center at La Roche College.

The 12:00 pm game took 5 hours and 44 minutes to complete and thanks to a total team effort this afternoon, the Hawks are heading back to their second NCAA Division III National Tournament game next weekend.

Emily Gawlak posted game-high scoring honors and grabbed a team-best eight rebounds.  She connected on 7-of-16 field goals and sank three 3-pointers along with three of four at the foul line. 

Katelyn Proy tossed in 17 points (7-for-10 from floor) and was credited with only two blocks in her final game against an AMCC opponent.

Both Gawlak and Proy were named to the 2018-19 All-Tournament team during the AMCC awards presentations.

Six additional Hawks contributed to the score board and six players finished the game with at least one steal.

Hilbert forced 20 Behrend turnovers and held them to a 39.2 percent shooting from the field, with only one shot from downtown counting.  The Hawks sank five from deep and finished with a nice 46 percent from the floor.

Ashley Repine (two steals, five rebounds) and Taylor Corts (four offensive rebounds/6 total) each chipped in eight points while Demi Battin quarterbacked the Hawks to five assists and four points.

After an evenly-played start to the game, Penn State Behrend took the 5-5 score and stretched their lead to seven points (14-7) before the Hawks responded with ten unanswered points. 

Emma Fredo finished the rally  hitting a bucket and a pair from the charity stripe which built a 17-14 Hilbert advantage after ten minutes of play.

The Hawks continued to power their way to an 11-point lead (25-14) at 6:55 in the second session.  Hilbert limited the Lions on the scoreboard as Proy gave her teammates four quick points and a steal which led to a layup from Gawlak .  Battin drove the lane and hit a short jumper on the next trip down the floor.

Both Proy and Repine took a seat on the bench with two fouls each when the Hawks held a double digit lead. And in their absence, Behrend scored their first points in ten minutes slicing into the Hawks lead.

Morgan McNeill came up with big stops defensively, but empty offensive trips for the Hawks allowed Behrend to cut the score (28-23) by intermission.

Behrend converted 8-of-10 from the foul line while Hilbert went 5-of-7.  Neither team took care of the ball as they combined for 25 turnovers by the break. Hilbert's 13 turnovers led to 12 Behrend points at the other end of the floor.

The Hawks pulled down seven offensive rebounds but only earned four points off second-chance points.

Proy (8) and Repine (7) led seven different Hawks in scoring in a balanced team effort.

After the long wait, the power returned to the Kerr Fitness Center.  Behrend started faster than the Hawks padding six points to their side of the score board giving them their first lead in the second half (29-28).  Corts hit a jumper and then Proy scored in the lane before Gawlak drained back-to-back threes, making it a nine-point game again. 

Corts, who stole the pass at 3:02, feed Gawlak in transition which elevated Hilbert into an 11-point lead (45-34) causing a Behrend timeout at 2:56.

The Lions responded with a 5-0 run and sent Repine to the bench with her fourth foul at 1:47.  They closed the quarter right where they were at the break, trailing Hilbert by 5 points (45-40).

Proy opened the scoring in the final session with a traditional 3-point play and Behrend got to the rim in the paint.  Both teams turned the ball over on their next possessions and the Hawks called a timeout with 6:45 remaining (48-42).

Battin banked one in inside the paint but shortly thereafter the Hawks found themselves with two post players in foul trouble with 5 minutes left in half.

In what might have been an empty offensive trip, Corts came through and nailed a big 3-ball at 4:04 giving Hilbert a nine point cushion again.

Gawlak scored in transition and hit a short jumper neutralizing two Behrend buckets which kept it a nine point game (58-49) with 2:40 left in regulation.

Gawlak knocked in another 3-pointer and then went 1-for-2 at the foul line after breaking Behrend's full court press to set a 62-54 score with 53 seconds on the clock. 

The Hawks closed the game hitting only 3-of-8 from the foul line but  limited the Lions on the scoreboard in the final minutes to secure their second automatic bid to the NCAA National Tournament.

For the safety of our student-athletes, the Hawks won't return to WNY until tomorrow after the wind storm blows out of the area. 

The Hilbert women's basketball team (22-5) will need to be on campus in time to view the NCAA live selection show (2:30 pm, NCAA website) in order to see who their next opponent will be.

Be sure to stay up-to-date on all your Hilbert Hawks scores and awards by following @HilbertAthletic on Twitter and by liking the "Hilbert College Athletics" Facebook page.  Additionally fans of the Hawks who have an Apple device can receive push notification from the newly created Hilbert College Hawks iOS SIDEARM mobile App which can be found in the Apple Store and ITunes.