Box Score

EDINBORO, PA – ¬The IUP women's basketball team's postseason run came to an end on Saturday night despite a game-high 26 points from Sarah Pastorek (Johnstown/Bishop McCort) as the Crimson Hawks fell to top-seeded Edinboro 70-56 in the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Atlantic Regional Championships. 

Pastorek got the game's first points with a jumper in the paint before the Fighting Scots (30-1) responded with seven straight. The Crimson Hawks then came back with seven consecutive points of their own, getting a three-pointer by Arika Ullman (Baltimore, MD/Seton Keough), followed by layups by Ashley Stoner (Pittsburgh, Pa. /Thomas Jefferson), Vianca Tejada (Pennsauken, NJ/Cherry Hill East) and Pastorek to take a 9-7 lead at the 15:07 mark.

The game would go back-and-forth for the next several minutes, as a jumper by Leslie Stapleton (Indiana, Pa. /Indiana) tied the score at 15-15 with 11:27 left. The Fighting Scots then followed with six straight and 10 of 12 to take a 25-17 with less than eight minutes remaining.

The Crimson Hawks cut their deficit to five points twice in the last few minutes of the first half, getting a three-pointer by Marita Mathe (Indiana, Pa. /Indiana) and a layup by Pastorek to keep the score close. Edinboro jumped back on top by 10 but IUP got it to within eight at half with another layup by Pastorek.

An early layup in the second half by Amy Fairman (Creekside, Pa. /Marion Center) got the game back to six points but Edinboro responded with a 9-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 49-34 with 17:52 left.

The Fighting Scots would build a lead of 16 at several points in the second half but IUP narrowed it to eight each time, including a layup by Talen Watson (Odenton, MD/Arundel) to bring the score to 62-54 with 4:26 remaining. However, Edinboro would put it away by scoring eight straight, forcing a pair of IUP turnovers down the stretch to secure the win.

Kiara Brown led Edinboro with 21 points and four assists, playing in all 40 minutes. Blazetic finished with a double-double, scoring 16 points on 8-of-14 from the field and grabbing 12 rebounds. Micki Cerchairo was the only other Fighting Scot to reach double-figures, adding 12 points.

Pastorek's 26 points came on 10-of-16 shooting, also connecting on 6-of-7 from the foul line. The point total was just one shy of her season-high and two points shy of her career-high. She added five rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Pastorek was the only Crimson Hawk to reach double-figures as eight total players scored, including Talen Watson (Odenton, MD/Arundel) who had eight points and Vianca Tejada (Pennsauken, NJ/Cherry Hill East) who had seven. Watson went 3-of-6 from the floor while Tejada finished 5-of-8 from the foul line.

UPDATE: On Monday night after the Atlantic Regional championship game, Pastorek was named to the All-Tournament team, along with Samantha Blazetic and Kiara Brown of Edinboro and Alsea Williams and Kyria Buford of Shaw. Shaw defeated Edinboro 70-53 in the title game to advance to the Elite 8.