Natalie Myers helped IUP win its second consecutive regional women’s basketball title.
The Burrell graduate, a redshirt junior in her first season with the Crimson Hawks, scored six points and pulled down four rebounds in IUP’s 68-60 win over California (Pa.) in the finals of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Tournament on Monday.
The win put IUP into the NCAA Elite Eight for a second consecutive season.
Myers, a Youngstown State transfer, put up double-digit scoring efforts in IUP’s first two games of the tournament: 11 points in IUP’s first-round win over Bowie State and 12 in the second-round win over Virginia Union.
St. Francis (Pa.): Senior Courtney Zezza (Plum) scored 12 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the Red Flash’s 65-54 loss to Robert Morris in the Northeast Conference championship game Sunday. Zezza added six rebounds and two steals in the final game of her record-breaking career. She finished as the school’s all-time leader in blocks with 299 and also set the single-season mark with 110 during her sophomore season.
Baseball
Seton Hill: Redshirt senior Nick Stotler (Plum) had a season-high four hits, scored two runs and stole a base in a 9-8 win over Le Moyne College on Friday. He added three hits, including a double, and an RBI in a 9-8 win Sunday over Millersville.
Softball
Franciscan: Freshman Anna Swierczewski (St. Joseph) hit her first career home run in a 4-0 victory over Fitchburg State. She added a double and scored a pair of runs.
Gannon: Junior Maria Taliani (Deer Lakes) had four hits, including a double, scored a run and drove in a run in a 10-9 win over Clarion. Taliani also hit her first home run of the season in a 7-0 win over Point Park.
Penn State Behrend: Freshman Ashleigh Schmidt (Freeport) hit her first career home run in a 5-1 loss to Saint Benedict. She also doubled and tripled, scored a run and drove in another in a 6-5 win over Saint Joseph’s (Maine). Senior Katie Gozzard (Deer Lakes) drove in a pair of runs in a 9-5 win over Bluffton.
Pitt-Johnstown: Sophomore Kristie Radvan (Freeport) had a pair of hits, including her first home run of the season, and two RBIs in a 6-0 win over St. Michael’s College. She also picked up a win in her first start of the season, pitching a complete game and allowing three earned runs in a 6-4 victory over No. 25 Winona State.
Thiel: Senior Miranda Reesman (Leechburg) was the hero in an 8-7 win over Hiram, ending the game with a walk-off double. Senior Jess Kelley (Freeport) had two hits in the second game of that doubleheader with Hiram, a 7-4 victory. Kelley earned the win.
Women’s tennis
Slippery Rock: Junior Lacey Cohen (Fox Chapel) was named Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week last week. Competing at No. 1 singles, Cohen has a 10-9 record and an 8-6 record at doubles.
Track and field
Pitt: Sophomore Nikki Scherer (Burrell) helped the Panthers start the season strong by teaming with Breanna Phillips, Nina Crawford and Sydni Townsend to win the 1,600-meter relay at the Yellow Jacket Invitational at Georgia Tech. The quartet finished in 3 minutes, 45.24 seconds.
Waynesburg: Sophomore Ryan VanTine (Valley) placed fifth in the shot put at Muskingham’s Muskie Duals, recording a toss of 39 feet, 5 3/4 inches.
