CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. - The fourth-seeded Westminster College women's basketball team upset second-seeded Washington & Jefferson, 82-77, in overtime Friday night in the semifinal round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Tournament held at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Ky.
For the second straight year, the Titans (17-10) advance to the PAC championship game to play top-seeded Thomas More on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Titans lost to the Saints in last year's championship game, 59-50. The Saints (26-0), ranked third in the nation this year, are coming off a 75-27 semifinal win over Grove City on Friday.
Westminster senior guard/forward Emilee Ackerman (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) became the all-time leading scorer in Titan women's basketball history during the win over Washington & Jefferson (20-7).
Ackerman scored a game-high 36 points on 9-17 shooting from the field and 16-16 shooting from the foul line, giving her 1,462 career points. Former teammate Desiree Sterling previously held the record of 1,451 from 2004-07.
The nation's third-leading scorer entering the week with 23.1 points per game, Ackerman was also named first-team all-PAC during a ceremony Friday night between the two semifinal games. Junior Gina Brunetti (Canfield, Ohio/Cardinal Mooney) also received an honorable mention for the all-PAC team.
Brunetti, who has averaged 9.3 points per game this season, followed Ackerman in the scoring column Friday night with 13 points, while senior forward Terese Marszalek (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) scored 12 and sophomore guard/forward Amy Dolsak (McDonald, Ohio/McDonald) chipped in with 10 points.
Ackerman grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, followed by Marszalek with eight and Brunetti with six.
Kennan Killeen led the Presidents with 20 points, while Stephanie Smith scored 14 and Emily Hays 13.
After the teams were tied, 29-29, at halftime, Washington & Jefferson held its largest lead of the second half with an eight-point, 56-48 cushion with 6:26 remaining in the game. The Titans slowly came back and tied the game with 1:51 left on a pair of Ackerman foul shots.
Westminster freshman guard Kaitlin McCarthy (Lowellville, Ohio/Lowellville) later sank a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to tie the game once again for the Titans, before Smith missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Brunetti hit a key 3-pointer to put the Titans up by three in overtime and Westminster never trailed the rest of the game. The Titans made all eight of their final free throws, including six by Ackerman.
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.
