Pregame News & Notes on the 2023 Women's AMCC Basketball First Round Play-off Game
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Alder Athletic Complex | Altoona, Pa
7:00 pm       Live Stats  |  Live Video
 
Hilbert College Hawks

• The Hilbert Women's Basketball team is returning to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference post-season tournament for the program's sixth consecutive year and 7th overall
• The Hawks earned a 5th seed for the second year in a row and will travel to Altoona, Pa. for their First Round play-off game
• Hilbert (6-8) will tangle with 4th seed Penn State Altoona (8-6) Tuesday, February 21, 2023 in the Alder Athletic Complex located in central Pennsylvania
• The Hilbert College Women's Basketball program holds a 5-4 overall record in the AMCC post-season tournament
• The Women's Basketball program boasts three appearances in the AMCC Title game (2018, 2019, 2020)
• The 2017-18 and the 2018-19 teams finished as the No. 1 in the postseason, and hosted the Final Four Weekend only in 2017-18 after losing the coin toss in 18-19
• Regardless, the Hilbert women's team won the AMCC Title game both those years and become the only sport program at Hilbert College to participate in a National Division III Tournament 
• Hilbert suffered losses to the College of New Jersey (2018) and to Messiah College (2019) in the NCAA tournament 
• Seniors Ashley Schroeder and Grace Zabawa, members of the women's basketball team who competed in the 2020 AMCC Title game, will provide leadership and experience to the youthful Hawks who will face Penn State Altoona for the third time this season
• Schroeder, recently named the AMCC Player of the Week, drives the team.  She averages 16.5 points (3rd in the league) and 4.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists a game
• Alesia Hamm leds the Hawks with nine rebounds, averaging almost five offensive rebounds a game and adds 8.4 ppg
• Mackenzie Catan can light it up from downtown averaging a few makes per game

Penn State Altoona Lions

• The Lions will host the First Round game in the AMCC playoffs this Tuesday
• Penn State Altoona secured the No. 4 seed but have been colder than hotter down the stretch of the season
  • Altoona started the AMCC portion of their schedule 5-0 then hit the skids.The Lions are 3-6 in their last nine games of the season, and were running a four game losing streak before beating Pitt-Bradford this past Saturday
• Altoona led by a pair of freshman: forward Avana Sayles who averages 15.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, and guard Jess Burns who tosses in 12.1 points, hitting .395 beyond the 3-point arc

Series History

• The Lions earned a 75-40 win in Hamburg on January 7th
  • Hilbert was led by Ashley Schroeder who scored 10 points and finished with five rebounds, two steals and three assists
  • Alesia Hamm chipped in eight points and seven rebounds while Kelsey Schlangenhauf led the Hawks with eight rebounds
  • Jess Burns burned the Hawks for 27 points, hitting 5-of-11 3-pointers and Avana Sayles (11 rebounds) and Sara Huston also reached double digit points, scoring 18 and 10 respectively
• Hilbert's defense caused big problems for the Lions in the January 28th game at Altoona, where the Hawks won 62-54
  • Hilbert held Altoona to just 18 second-half points (nine in each quarter) while outscoring the hosts 35-18 for the win
  • Schroeder (21), Mackenzie Catan (12), Belle Oakley (11) and Alesia Hamm (10) all notched double digits, scoring almost all their points from the field, rather than the foul line 
  • Maria Spinelli cleared the glass for a career-high 12 rebounds, six on the offensive end
  • Avana Sayles poured in 21 points and earned eight rebounds to lead three Lions in double digit scoring
  • Jess Burns added 18, and continues to be a threat from downtown as is Emma Kitko, who tossed in three buckets from beyond the arc in the most recent match-up
• Since 2004-05, when Hilbert joined the AMCC league, the Lions hold a 12-24 record against the Hawks
• Hilbert and Altoona have never met in the post-season tournament

 
Stat Comparisons – Conference only games:

Points per game / offense:           60.9 PSA | 51.4 HIL    
Points per game / defense:           61.6 HIL | 66.4 PSA
FG% offense:                               .325 PSA | .303 HIL     
FG% defense:                             .378 PSA | .400 HIL
3FG% offense:                             .301 PSA | .233 HIL      
3FG% defense:                           .268 PSA | .304 HIL
Rebound offense:                         49.1 PSA | 42.9 HIL      
Rebound defense:                         38.6 HIL | 46.2 PSA
Steals:                                              8.3 HIL | 7.5 PSA