No. 1 La Roche University defeated No. 2 Hilbert College 88-69 to claim the AMCC women's basketball title Saturday afternoon and will advance to the NCAA national tournament. This is the Redhawks' eighth women's basketball title, and sixth under head coach Kamela Gissendanner.
Both teams came out strong in the first quarter as the lead went back-and-forth throughout the first several minutes. Hilbert took a five point lead when Ashley Schroeder sunk two free throws with 5:10 to play in the first to make the score 11-6. La Roche then went on a run of their own, scoring the next seven points, to take the 13-11 lead with 2:41 to go. The Hawks were able to tie the game on several more occations, but could not go ahead the rest of the first quarter, as the Redhawks led 21-17 after one.
La Roche maintained control of the game in the second quarter, stretching their lead to as many as ten points on two occasions, while the Hawks weren't able to get any closer than three. La Roche took a six point, 39-33 lead, into the locker room at halftime. La Roche G Shaundrea Butler led all scorers in the first half with 12 points, while Ashley Repine had 11 for Hilbert.
The second half started out with Hilbert and La Roche exchanging three baskets a piece, until the Redhawks were able to put together three baskets in a row, which started and ended with Butler, to give the Redhawks a 10 point advantage with 6:19 to go in the third. A Hilbert free throw by Repine and two more La Roche baskets by Ayanna Mazyck extended the Redhawk lead to 14 with 5:33 on the clock. Six points each from Repine and Emily Gawlak cut the Redhawk lead to three (59-56) heading into the fourth quarter.
Hilbert kept the game close for most of the final frame until the Redhawks started to pull away with just under 3:00 minutes to play in the game. Danajah Sanders nailed a three with 2:55 on the clock to put La Roche up by 12 (74-62) and the Redhawks would hold on to their double digit lead for the remainder of the game. The final eight Redhawk points would come from the free throw line, with Jenna Cole sinking four of the eight, to set the final at 88-69.
La Roche will receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA national tournament. Pairings will be announced on Monday.
All Tournament Team
La Roche - Jenna Cole, Ayanna Mazyck
Hilbert - Ashley Repine, Taylor Corts
D'Youville - Danielle Hore
Pitt-Greensburg - Nadege Durand
Penn State Behrend - Alanna Dibble
Penn State Altoona - Alexis Cannistraci