West Chester Faces No. 25 Edinboro In PSAC Semifinals Saturday

2014 PSAC Women's Basketball Championships Homepage
West Chester Game Notes
Edinboro Game Notes
Directions to Edinboro

EDINBORO, Pa. - West Chester University travels to face the PSAC West's regular-season champion and top seed No. 25 Edinboro University for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal round matchup inside McComb Field House Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
 
Tournament Passes (three-game package) are $14 for adults and $5 for students, as always it is free admission for PSAC students with valid ID. Only the tournament passes will be sold on Saturday. Tickets for the championship game on Sunday are $8 for adults and $3 for students, and free admission for PSAC students with valid ID.
 
The other semifinal matchup has No.3 Gannon, the second seed out of the West, vs. No. 14 Bloomsburg, the top seed in the East. Game time is 1 p.m. The semifinal survivors will play at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the title game, which will be televised lived on PCN.
 
Saturday's game will be the second time in the last three years the two schools have met inside McComb Field House in the PSAC semifinals. In 2012, Edinboro scored a 74-58 victory en route to its second consecutive PSAC Championship. West Chester had another opportunity to play Edinboro one week later back in McComb Field House in the NCAA Atlantic Regionals, but the Scots also prevailed, 69-65.
 
The two teams placed seven players on their respective all-league teams with Edinboro junior Valerie Majewski being chosen as player of the year in the Western Division, and Head Coach Stan Swank honored as the West Coach of the Year.
 
West Chester's dynamic sophomore's, Dallas Ely, the PSAC's leading scorer at 19.5 a game, and Brittany Sicinski were named to the first team in the PSAC East. Sicinski scores more than 15 points a game, grabs over six rebounds and leads the team in assists at four per contest. Junior Kendall Benovy, who is the teams' leading rebounder at 6.8 a game and also averages over 12 points a game, was a second team all-league selection.
 
For Edinboro, So. Aignee' Freeland averaging 14 points and nine rebounds a game joined Majewski, who averaged nearly 16 points per game and grabbed over four boards, on the first team. Sr. Darche Jackson was named to the second team and selected as defensive player of the year. Junior forward Laurel Lindsay, who averages over 12 points five rebounds and four assists a contest, was also a second team choice.
 
West Chester got to this point by receiving a first-round bye and then defeating sixth-seeded Kutztown at home in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Sicinski scored 23 points, Ely added 21 and 11 rebounds while Chikisha Steele-Hook came off the bench to tie her career high with 14 points. Edinboro also received a first-round bye and then knocked off Indiana, Pa. on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals.
 
The Golden Rams and Fighting Scots met back in December during the regular-season inside Hollinger Field House with West Chester coming away with a 76-73 win.
 
Sicinski scored 24 points, grabbed eight rebounds, dished out six assists and made four steals to lead the victory charge. Ely added 19 points, nine rebounds, four assist and four steals while Benovy scored 18 points and grabbed six boards in the victory.
 
Freeland scored a game-high 24 points with 12 rebounds, and Majewski tallied 14 and was the only other Edinboro player in double digits. She made 4 of 10 shots from beyond the 3-point arc. Edinboro attempted 29 triples and connected on 10 while West Chester was 3-for-14 from 3-point land, but held a 30-6 advantage in free-throw attempts.
 
The Golden Rams average 30 trips to the line a contest. In contrast, the Fighting Scots head to the line 18 times a game. Turnovers might also be a key to determine the victor on Saturday, West Chester forces 22.5 a game while Edinboro averages only 14.2 a contest. In the first game, the Fighting Scots committed 20 turnovers.
 
The two winningest coaches and longest tenured coaches in the PSAC battle for a place in the finals. West Chester, led by head coach Deirdre Kane in her 27th year and with 447 victories at the helm, faces off against the PSAC West coach of the year, Stan Swank, in his 27th year with 488 wins. Edinboro holds a 14-6 all-time advantage over West Chester, including a 4-0 record in the postseason and 2-0 in the PSAC Tournament.