SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Trailing by as many as 15 points in the third quarter, the IUP women's basketball team forced overtime where the Crimson Hawks earned a tough 67-58 overtime victory over host Shippensburg in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Heiges Field House.
With the win, the Crimson Hawks improve to 22-6 on the season and advance to tomorrow afternoon's PSAC championship game against California (PA). It marks the second consecutive season and the fifth time overall that the Crimson Hawks and Vulcans will meet in the PSAC championship game. Meanwhile, the Raiders fall to 24-6 and will await word of a potential at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Sophomore
Carolyn Appleby (Greensburg, Pa. /Greensburg Central Catholic) led IUP as she tied her career-high with 24 points on 7-of-19 shooting, including a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe. She added three assists and one rebound. Junior
Halle Denman (Beaver Falls, Pa. /Blackhawk) added 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting while totaling six rebounds and two steals. Freshman
Maura D'Anna (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) chipped in with 11 points off the bench. She nearly recorded a double-double as she totaled eight rebounds (four offensive). Redshirt sophomore
Lauren Wolosik (Pittsburgh, Pa. /North Catholic) scored eight points while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists.
A Wolosik layup tied the game early in the first quarter at 4-4 before a three-pointer from Lauren Gold gave Shippensburg a 12-7 lead at the 4:29-mark. D'Anna's layup pulled the Crimson Hawks to within 14-13 at the 1:41-mark. The Raiders opened the lead to 23-17 midway through the second quarter after another Gold three-pointer. From there Shippensburg closed the second quarter on an 8-1 run to take a 31-18 halftime lead.
The Crimson Hawk regrouped and answered in the third quarter as IUP used an 11-2 run to pull to within four (33-29) after Denman converted a three-point play at the 6:38-mark. Shippensburg then pushed the lead to as much as six (40-34) after a Kristin McGeough jumper with under two-minutes to play in the third. Denman tied the game at 42-42 at the 6:50-mark of the fourth quarter on a layup. She then gave the Crimson Hawks a 45-44 lead on a three-pointer midway through the fourth. For much of the next few minutes the teams traded baskets as neither team led by more than one-point. Appleby put IUP up 49-47 with just over one-minute remaining in regulation on a pair of free-throws before Shippensburg forced the extra session after Colleen Young hit two free-throws with 14 seconds left in regulation.
In overtime, Appleby pushed the lead to 54-51 after she converted a three-point play at the 3:15-mark. The Raiders cut the lead to 57-56 after Gold completed a three-point play with 1:25 left. From there the Crimson Hawks sank all four of their free-throws to seal the win.
IUP shot at a 45.3 percent (24-of-53) clip including nearly 80.0 percent (15-of-19) from the free-throw line. In comparison, Shippensburg shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the floor and just 31.8 percent in the second half.
Stephanie Knauer led the Raiders with a team-high 21 points while Gold added 14 points and Young tallied 13 points.
Up Next
The Crimson Hawks advance to the PSAC Championship game and will square off against California tomorrow. California advanced to the finals with a 71-69 win over East Stroudsburg. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.
