McCANDLESS, Pa. - Number one seed La Roche women's basketball defeated number four seed Pitt Greensburg Friday evening in the AMCC semi-final at the Kerr, 60-54. The Redhawks outscored the Bobcats by 17-3 in the first quarter where they drained five three pointers. UPG outscored LRU 54-43 over the next three quarters but were not able to overcome their fourteen point first quarter deficit. La Roche led for the entirety of the contest.
Ayanna Mazyck scored a career-high 24 points while knocking down a career-high five three pointers, the most by any Redhawk in a game this season. Mazyck added seven rebounds, two assists and two steal. She shot 8 of 14 (57%) from the field and 5 of 9 (56%) from deep.
Danajah Sanders provided 17 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a game-high three steals. Sanders has scored a combined 39 points over her last two games.
La Roche will take on Hilbert College Saturday afternoon in the AMCC title game at the Kerr Fitness Center at 4:00 p.m. Head Coach Kamela Gissendanner is a perfect 5-0 in conference championship games in her tenure at the University, winning five straight titles in her first five seasons (2013-2017).
Final: La Roche: 60, Pitt Greensburg: 54
Records: La Roche (19-6), Pitt Greesnburg (17-10)
How it Happened
The Redhawks jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after back-to-back triples from Sanders and Jenna Cole. After missing their next three shots, La Roche went on an 8-2 run to build their lead up to 12 just over six minutes into the game. La Roche forced Pitt Greensburg to shoot just 1 of 13 (7.7%) from the field in the first, stealing the ball five times off the Bobcats in the quarter.
La Roche led by double-digits for the whole second quarter and headed into the break ahead 33-22. LRU carried their momentum into the third and built their lead up to 18 points halfway through the quarter. The Redhawks headed into the fourth up 47-35.
The fourth quarter is where things got interesting. Slowly but surely, Pitt Greensburg began to climb their way back into the game. La Roched led 55-45 at the 4:39 mark before the Bobcats put together a 9-3 run to make it a four point game, but that is as close as they got. Two clutch free throw from Shaundrea Butler sealed the deal as La Roche went on to win 60-54.
Inside the Box Score
Shaundrea Butler recorded six points, six rebounds and a game-high six assists. Butler has dished out at least four assists in 17 straight games.
Jenna Cole provided eight points, two rebounds and tied Sanders with a game-high three steals.
10 of La Roche's 22 made field goals were three pointers. The Redhawks have made ten or more triples in three straight games.
Pitt Greensburg's Nadege Durand and LeeAnn Harris combined for 35 of UPG's 54 points.
NEXT UP: Women's basketball takes on Hilbert College tomorrow afternoon at the Kerr Fitness Center in the AMCC title game. The Redhawks are 1-1 against the Hawks this season but defeated them at home on January 18th, 84-69. Tip-off for Saturday's game is set for 4:00 p.m.
