NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. - The No. 8 seeded Westminster College women's basketball team fell to non-conference foe No. 9 seeded Penn State Behrend University by a score of 69-61 in an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament Play-In game at home Wednesday evening.
Westminster (20-8) and Penn State Behrend (17-10) engaged in a tight battle early, resulting in a 17-15 Lions lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second frame, the Lions extended their lead to 28-19 with 6:06 remaining in the half. The Titans responded with a 9-0 run to knot the game up at 28-28 with 4:03 left in the half. Penn State Behrend took a 37-32 lead into the break.
In the third quarter, Westminster reclaimed the lead at the 6:31 mark with two free throws from first-year
Camden Hergenrother (Salem, OH / Cardinal Mooney), giving the Titans a 40-39 lead. The Titans earned their largest lead of the game at 50-46 with 1:48 left in the quarter and led 52-50 going into the fourth. In the final frame, Behrend opened up with an 11-2 run to take a 61-54 lead with 4:15 left. Westminster managed to cut the lead to five, but that would be the closest the deficit would get as Behrend held on for the victory.
Westminster shot 40.3% from the floor (25-62) compared to Penn State Behrend's 42.2% (28-66). The Titans also shot 81.8% (9-11) from the free throw line. The Titans bested the Lions on the glass (43-35). Westminster also dished out 14 assists and pocketed six steals.
Sophomore
Magen Polczynski (Irwin, PA / Norwin) tallied a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Senior
Kayla Bennett (Kent, OH / Theodore Roosevelt) recorded 12 points and had a game-high 11 rebounds. This marked Bennett's eighth double-double of the season and the ninth of her career. First-year
Natalie Murrio (Pittsburgh, PA / Brentwood) finished in double figures with 10 points off the bench.
Westminster's historic season came to an end after it hit several accolades, including making it to the PAC Semifinals for the first time since the 2009-10 season and hitting the 20-win mark for only the third time in school history.
