February 24, 2007

Boxscore

LAURINBURG, N.C.—Senior Jessica Zapf (Pittsburgh, Pa.) converted on an old-fashion three-point play with 4.9 seconds left in regulation to propel No. 8 East Region ranked University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown to a 51-50 NCAA Division II women’s basketball victory over No. 6 East Region ranked St. Andrews Presbyterian College on Saturday afternoon in Harris Court.

The Lady Cats, who trailed for most of the contest, erased a five-point deficit in the final 90 seconds to improve to 18-7 overall. The Lady Knights fell to 19-8 overall after having their four-game win streak snapped.

St. Andrews will enter the 2007 Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Tournament as the No. 4 seed and will host No. 5 seed Mount Olive College in the Quarterfinals on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.

The visitors held SAPC without in a field goal for the first seven minutes and held a 7-1 lead at the 12:56 mark. However, a senior Karen Foggie (Charlotte, N.C.) three-pointer started a 7-0 Knights run to take their first lead just 39 second later. St. Andrews maintained the momentum and built an eight-point lead (25-17). This time Pitt-Johnstown made a comeback holding the Knights scoreless for the final three minutes to cut the deficit to 25-21 at the intermission.

Out of the locker room, St. Andrews maintained a single-digit advantage for the first 16 minutes of the second half. An 8-0 run by the Lady Cats capped by a senior Jami Oaks (South Fork, Pa.) layup with four minutes left gave UPJ its first lead of the final stanza, 43-42.

The Knights quickly responded with a quick 6-0 run to take a five-point lead into the final two minutes. The Lady Cats, who missed their first seven 3-pointers in the second half, finally got one to fall from Oaks with 1:12 left to pull within two, 48-46. The teams swapped baskets in the next two possessions so UPJ was forced to foul with 25 seconds to go. Junior Erika Thompson (Kalamazoo, Mich.) missed the front end of a one-and-one setting up the potential winning score.

As time ticked away, senior Allison Krischer (Johnstown, Pa.) aggressively drove the lane and dished the ball off to Zapf, who laid in the tying score while being fouled with 4.9 seconds showing. Zapf drilled the extra point and a desperation three-pointer by Foggie as time expired missed its mark.

Pitt-Johnstown shot 37.7% from the field while St. Andrews was held to 32.3% shooting. SAPC held a slim 43-41 advantage on the boards but only made 2-of-16 (12.5%) shots from behind the arc.

Oaks finished with a game-high 20 points for the Lady Cats while Zapf bucketed 15. Junior Sarah Priest (Johnstown, Pa.) grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and supplied four assists.

Junior Danielle Norman (Bronx, N.Y.) led the Knights with her 11th double-double of the season with team-high’s of 15 points and 10 boards. Norman also tied her season-high of four blocks. Senior Ashley Mitchell (Washignton, D.C.) chipped in with seven points, six assists, and three steals. Junior April Johnson (McColl, S.C.) tallied eight boards and seven points.