GREENSBURG, Pa. – Senior forward Lexi Griggs collected her first double-double of the season to lead ninth-ranked IUP women's basketball to a 71-44 victory over Seton Hill Saturday afternoon at the McKenna Center.
 
The Crimson Hawks never trailed as they won their third straight to improve to 24-2 overall and 19-1 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) play. Having already clinched at least a share of the PSAC Western Division title Wednesday, this win gave IUP the outright regular season championship.
 
The IUP defense dominated from the outset with Seton Hill missing its first 12 shots of the afternoon as the Crimson Hawks grabbed a 10-1 lead.
 
The Hawks led by 10 at the end of the first quarter and doubled that to 20 at 37-17 heading into halftime. With the Griffins keeping pace early in the second quarter, IUP regained control with a 10-2 run to go on top 32-14 on a wide-open 3-pointer by Griggs. She went on to hit another trey and Natalie Myers converted a layup before the half to put IUP on top 37-17 heading to the locker room.
 
The Griffins (13-13, 7-13 PSAC), who are still fighting for a conference tournament spot, outscored IUP in the third quarter with the Hawks taking a 17-point lead into the fourth.
 
But IUP came out hot in the final quarter with three straight buckets by Courtney Alexander, Mikayla Lovelace and Griggs, and later had a 9-0 run to take a 29-point lead with five minutes to play. The Hawks shot 60 percent in the final quarter and scored 23 points over the final 10 minutes to finish out the win.
 
Who stood out
Griggs finished with 14 points and had 10 rebounds in 32 minutes. She added two blocks and two steals. She was one of four Hawks to reach double-figures in scoring, including Maura D'Anna with 11 points and Myers and Justina Mascaro with 10 points each.
 
D'Anna added three blocks and Mascaro had two as IUP finished with eight as a team.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks entered the game ranked No. 9 in the WBCA Top 25 and No. 9 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … IUP is also No. 1 in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings … IUP swept the season series with Seton Hill by a combined 53 points … The Crimson Hawks improved to 11-1 on the road … It was their biggest road win since defeating Slippery Rock 81-39 January 8.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks open the final week of the regular season with a trip to Clarion (4-23, 2-19 PSAC) Wednesday night. Tipoff is 5:30 p.m.
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.