Edinboro, Pa. – The Edinboro women's basketball team jumped out early and never trailed in a 66-64 win over IUP in the PSAC Championship Quarterfinals Wednesday night inside McComb Fieldhouse.
The Scots jumped out early with two buckets from
Morgan Gentile to grab a 4-0 lead. Nyshae' Weaver cut the lead to 4-2 at the 6:58 mark. Edinboro responded with nine straight points capped by a
Rachael Manfredo triple to take a 13-2 lead with 3:10 left in the first. IUP scored the final eight points of the quarter to cut the lead to 13-10 after one.
Edinboro started the second much like the first with
Ava Haddad scoring a layup and
Gabby McDuffie and
Hayley Sims each hitting 3-pointers to extend the advantage to 21-10 at the 8:08 mark. The Scot lead grew to 14, 30-16, after another Sims triple at the 4:38 mark. The Crimson Hawks closed the second on an 11-4 run to make the score 34-27 Scots at the break.
In the third quarter, IUP cut the Edinboro lead to 38-33 on a pair of Grace Centrulla free throws with 7:57 to play.
Ashten Boggs scored a layup, and Sims netted a pair of buckets to push the Scot advantage back out to 44-33 with 6:11 remaining in the third. Shamia Strayhorn hit a jumper to cut the lead to 44-35 before Sims drilled a trey and McDuffie a layup to make it 49-35 with 4:24 on the clock. Edinboro held a 57-44 lead heading into the fourth.
IUP used a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter to cut the Edinboro lead to 59-53 with 6:41 to play. Haddad hit a layup with 5:58 to play to push the lead back to 61-53. The Crimson Hawks scored the next six points to pull within two, 61-59, with 3:19 remaining. The teams traded free throws to make it 62-60 Scots with 1:51 to play. Gentile hit a pair of shots at the charity stripe to extend the lead to 64-60. Another Gentile free throw pushed the lead to 65-60. Strayhorn cut the lead to 65-62 after two shots at the line with 18 seconds left. Sims made it a two-possession game, 66-62, splitting a pair of free throws. Weaver scored at the buzzer to set the final 66-64.
Sims netted a game-high 23 points to go with six rebounds. Gentile finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Haddad added 10 points and four rebounds. McDuffie and Manfredo each tallied nine points.
Strayhorn led IUP with 16 points. Weaver added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Scots will now host the PSAC Championship Final Four on Saturday and Sunday. Edinboro will take on Lock Haven Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
