GROVE CITY, Pa. - The Westminster College women's basketball team came back to beat Grove City, 50-45, on the road Wednesday night in both teams' Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) opener.
Senior guard/forward Emilee Ackerman (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) scored a game-high 24 points and snared a team-high eight rebounds for Westminster while becoming the eighth player in team history to score 1,000 career points. She now ranks eighth in team history with 1,011 points.
Westminster sophomore center Rachel Martinko (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) bucketed nine points and pulled down seven rebounds.
Grove City (2-5, 0-1 PAC) had possession and down two points with 25 second remaining before Ackerman converted a Wolverine turnover into a three-point play.
The Titans (6-0, 1-0 PAC) faced their largest deficit of the season when they trailed by 10 points on two occasions in the first half before Grove City held a 24-17 halftime lead. Westminster's first-half point total was its lowest since scoring 11 in a 49-45 loss vs. Manchester in its 2006-07 season-opener.
Westminster then went on a 9-0 run to start the second half and led by as many as seven points (43-36) with 6:43 remaining. The Wolverines trimmed the lead down to one point (43-42) with 3:34 remaining before the Titans were able to hang on for the victory.
Grove City held a 42-30 rebound advantage over Westminster, a team that entered the game out-rebounding its opponents by an average of 14 boards per game. However, the Titans shot 45.2 percent (19-42) from the field compared the Wolverines at 26.6 percent (17-64).
Krista Beechy led Grove City with 10 points and nine rebounds (six offensive).
Westminster travels to Thomas More Saturday at 1 p.m. to play the nationally-ranked and defending league champion Saints.
About Westminster College...
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is ranked 15th among liberal arts colleges, according to the Washington Monthly 2007 Annual College Guide. Westminster is a national leader in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Guide to America's Best Colleges, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 366 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and was recognized by the Templeton Guide as a "Character Building College."
Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa., campus.
