HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Final Four field is set for the 2020 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Women's Basketball Championship Tournament.
No. 3 D'Youville College earned a 79-69 victory over No. 6 Penn State Altoona and No. 4 Pitt-Greensburg claimed a 71-53 win against No. 5 Penn State Behrend in the two First Round games played February 25th.
The Bobcats advance to the 6:00 pm semifinal game against the No. 1 La Roche Redhawks and the Spartans will battle against No. 2 Hilbert Hawks in the 8:30 pm February 28.
La Roche is hosting their 9th AMCC Championship Weekend since 2010-11. The Redhawks claimed seven straight titles until Hilbert won back-to-back Championships in 2017-18 and 2018-19.
La Roche (18-6, 18-2) suffered only two conference losses this winter, one to Hilbert (70-63) and the other to Penn State Altoona (91-76).
Hilbert is making their four consecutive post-season appearance and their 3rd as either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed.
Coach
Amy Senefelder and her assistants
Scott Foster and
John Jay Hall have guided the 2019-20 team back to the top in the conference. They closed the regular season with a 19-6 overall record and 16-4 in AMCC action.
D'Youville is making the program's first Final Four appearance since the 2015-16 season. The Spartans went 18-8 overall and 15-5 in league play. They are the only team to sweep the Hawks in conference games.
Pitt-Greensburg also returns to the Final Four for the first time since the 2014-15 season. The Bobcats closed their season with a 17-9 overall record and went 14-6 in conference play. The program has earned two of the league's automatic bids to the Division III NCAA Tournament (2008-09 and 2002-03) in the past.
Records vs opponents in Final Four
La Roche 1-1 v Hilbert, 2-0 D'Youville, 2-0 Pitt-Greensburg
Hilbert 1-1 La Roche, 0-2 D'Youville, 2-0 Pitt-Greensburg
D'Youville 0-2 La Roche, 2-0 Hilbert, 0-2 Pitt-Greensburg
Pitt-Greensburg 0-2 La Roche, 0-2 Hilbert, 2-0 D'Youville
La Roche enters the weekend on a two-game win streak after their road loss to Hilbert. The Redhawks went 5-1 in February. Hilbert enters the weekend with their most recent win at Altoona, but went 4-2 in February while D'Youville is on a six-game win streak after opening February with a loss to La Roche. Pitt-Greensburg is also hot at the end of the season with a 7-1 February record, but closed the last week with a 3-point loss to La Roche.
Hilbert is led by senior guard
Emily Gawlak who has been in a zone offensively these last two weeks. The AMCC Player of the Week the last two Mondays, Gawlak earned a spot on the D3hoops.com Team of the Week February 26. She scored 113 points in four games, averaging 28.3 per game, blistering the nets for .534-percent from the field (39-of-73) .619-percent beyond the arc (13-of-21) and .786-percent at the foul line (22-of-28).
Backcourt-mate, senior guard
Taylor Corts averages 14.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and two assists per game. She can get hot beyond the arc which opens up passing options in the paint.
Senior
Ashley Repine has earned three double-doubles this winter after a late start due to an off-season injury. She is a work-horse in the lane and causes problems for opponents down low. Sophomore
Emma Fredo works hard for both offensive and defensive position in the lane and never lacks energy or hustle. Freshman
Macy Kisner is athletic, never stops moving and can take the ball coast-to-coast off a defensive rebound.
Senior
Demi Battin, freshman
Ashley Schroeder, senior
Alayna DeFazio and freshman
Grace Zabawa share time around the arc. Schroeder averages almost 10 points per game and over one 3-point make per contest while Battin can knock down open shots and play aggressive defense for the Hawks. DeFazio and Zabawa provide positive energy and can spark the Hawks when they step on the court.
The AMCC Champion will be crowned Saturday, February 29th (4:00 pm) and be awarded the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Tournament.
