West Chester Stuns Millersville; Other Higher Seeds Hold in Women's Basketball Quarterfinals
East No. 4 seed West Chester battled through two overtime periods to outlast No. 1 seed Millersville and upset the Marauders to advance to the semifinals. The higher seeds won the other three quarterfinal games on Tuesday, with East No. 2 Kutztown, West No. 1 Gannon and No. 2 California also advancing. All four teams will now move onto the semifinals on Friday, which will be hosted by Gannon, which is the highest remaining seed out of the West.
Semifinals - Friday, March 5
West Chester vs. California, 5:30 p.m.
Kutztown vs. Gannon, 7:30 p.m.
West Chester 83, Millersville 77, 2ot
Millersville, the PSAC's top scoring and field goal percentage defense, allowed 83 points to West Chester and also allowed the Golden Rams to shoot an uncharacteristic 46 percent from the floor as West Chester stunned the 23rd-ranked Marauders 83-77 to advance to the semifinals for the third straight year.
Allison Hostetter recorded a double-double to lead the Golden Rams with 21 points and 10 rebounds while Natalie Winters had 17 points and Megan Stewart had 12. Millersville was paced by Raquel Green's double-double as she also had 21 points and 10 boards. Ashley Moyer had 20 points while Jenna Craig grabbed 12 rebounds. Both teams were plagued by turnovers as the Golden Rams committed 36 turnovers and the Marauders gave it away 29 times.
Kutztown 74, Bloomsburg 67, ot
Kutztown received a double-double from Melissa McQuade with 22 points and 15 rebounds and placed four players in double figures as the Golden Rams doubled up Bloomsburg in overtime for a 74-67 overtime win, avenging two regular season losses this year to the Huskies.
In addition to her double-double, McQuade also dished out seven assists, missing the triple-double by just three assists. Vivian Melvin had 14 while Rachel Wisemiller had 13 and Chauntelle Schroeder 12. Bloomsburg was led by Kayla Oxenrider's 21 points while Kelsey Gallagher notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Alyssa Flanagan had 10 points. Both teams shot under 40 percent from the floor in the game.
Gannon 81, Edinboro 67
No. 1-ranked Gannon got 21 points each from Kim Vargas and Carrie Nolan and shot over 50 percent from the floor in the second half while holding Edinboro to 32 percent in the same period as the Golden Knights opened up what was a tied game at halftime and cruised to a 81-67 win to remain the lone unbeaten team in Division II and earn the right to host the semifinals and championship game on Friday and Saturday.
Tiffany Crocker added 16 points for Gannon. Edinboro was led by Renee' Brown with 18 points while Kelsey Conklin added 17 and Samantha Reimer finished with 14 in her final game as a Fighting Scot. Reimer ends her career as Edinboro's all-time leading scorer. For Gannon, it marked the school's first-ever PSAC Tournament win.
California 72, IUP 49
IUP got 23 points from Eryn Withers, which accounted for nearly half of the Crimson Hawks' points but no other IUP player had more than eight points while California's Brooque Williams scored 27 points to become the all-time leading scorer in California history as the Vulcans cruised to a 72-49 win over the Crimson Hawks in a rematch of last year's tournament championship game. The win ensures that there will be a new PSAC tournament champion this year, as the Crimson Hawks' run of three straight championships ends in the quarterfinals this year.
Cal had three other players in double figures after Williams. Amy Johns had 12 points, Kayla Smith ahd 11 and Danielle Luckett had 10.