#3 PITT-GREENSBURG & #5 HILBERT EARN FIRST ROUND VICTORIES, ADVANCE TO SEMIS

#3 Pitt-Greensburg and #5 Hilbert College each earned victories in the first round of the AMCC Championship Tournament Tuesday evening, advancing to the semifinals on Friday. Hilbert defeated #4 Penn State Altoona 54-40, while Pitt-Greensburg got the 74-62 victory over #6 Mount Aloysius College.

#5 Hilbert d. #4 Penn State Altoona, 54-40
It took only 16 seconds for the Hawks to record their first points of the game with Ashley Schroeder hitting Mackenzie Catan as she made her first attempt from three-point range on the night. She would hit another time from three just a couple minutes later. Monika Allen made a layup and Schroeder connected both times from the free throw line which led to the Hawks leading 10-4 at the end of the first quarter. Catan stayed hot in the second quarter again hitting from beyond the arc off of an assist from Alesia Hamm. She would go on to hit from three-point range two more times this quarter as she led the hawks with 15 points. The Hawks biggest leader of the first half of play was a 14 point lead that they gained through strong pressure on the defensive end as well as great shooting. Altoona made a strong push at the end of the quarter to make it a closer game. The Hawks led 26-20 after the first half of play.

Schroeder and Chloe Champagne started the scoring off for the Hawks in the second half with Schroeder making two free throws and Champagne scoring a layup. The Hawks scored the first nine points of the third quarter to regain their large lead. The Hawks grew their lead to 19 points when Schroeder hit a three with a minute left in the quarter. Allen started the quarter for the Hawks with a made layup that was followed by Catan's seventh three-pointer of the game. The Hawks continued to pile on the pressure and points which led to them earning the win and advancing.

Catan led the hawks in scoring today with 21 points that came on all three-point shots. She also earned seven rebounds in the victory. Schroeder and Campagne led the Hawks with five assists each. Allen led the team in rebounding with 10.

Hilbert advances to the AMCC semifinals, hosted by La Roche University, in Pittsburgh, PA. The Hawks will face #1 La Roche on Friday evening at 6pm.

#3 Pitt-Greensburg d. #6 Mount Aloysius, 74-62
It was a late night for the Pitt-Greensburg women's basketball team as they took on Mount Aloysius for the second time in less than a week. After a game that was decided early in the team's first matchup inside Chambers Hall, this version was a much tougher battle for the Bobcats. Even with the strong effort from the Mounties, the Bobcats took a 74-62 victory. 
 
Mount Aloysius had two players score in double figures, including China Jenkins that went for 20 points and 19 rebounds, eight of them being offensive. 
 
Pitt-Greensburg had three players score in double-figures, including 19 points from the team's two top scorers Sidney McCully and Melina Maietta. McCully had 19 points, eight assists, six rebounds, and four steals in the game, including scoring her 1,000th point in just over three seasons. Also shining for the Bobcats was freshman Madison Scalese who had 15 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Scalese was a force in the paint and had her midrange game going as well. Overall, the Bobcats shot close to 43 percent from behind the arc, one of the team's better shooting nights of the season. Pitt-Greensburg forced Mount into 18 turnovers and scored 25 points off those turnovers. The Bobcats held the Mounties to just four points off of 12 turnovers.
 
Pitt-Greensburg will now head to the AMCC Semifinals. Awaiting them is #2 Penn State Behrend who the Bobcats just dropped a game to last weekend. Tip off will be at 8:30 PM on the campus of La Roche University.