Westmoreland campus clippings: Burns sisters ready to court success

The Burns sisters will not get to play against each other on the basketball court this season, but the Hempfield graduates will be watching each other’s progress with great anticipation.

Michelle Burns is a junior guard at Point Park who made the All-River States Conference preseason team. She was a first-team all-conference selection as a sophomore, averaging 14.2 points, 4.1 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals.

She had 12 points, seven assists and three steals in the opening game of the Lawrence Tech Tipoff Classic, an 85-71 loss to the host team.

Monica Burns is a senior guard at Cal (Pa.). She is studying for a master’s degree and is using her final year of eligibility after taking a year off from basketball. She made an instant impact in her first game, scoring a game-high 29 points, including 5 of 10 3-pointers in a 109-67 loss at Maryland in the exhibition opener.

Burns scored more than 1,000 points at Wheeling Jesuit and holds the all-time record — college and pros included — for consecutive free throws made (118). In 2016, she led the nation in free throw percentage, making 139 of 147 attempts (94.6).

Football

IUP: Senior linebacker Nick Amendola (Norwin) had a game-high nine tackles, including one for loss, as the 19th-ranked Crimson Hawks (7-1, 4-1) blanked Gannon, 35-0. Amendola is second on the team with 48 tackles and has 3 1/2 sacks and four interceptions.

John Carroll: Sophomore defensive back Nate Leopold (Franklin Regional) had five tackles and an interception as JCU (6-1, 5-1 OAC) beat Marietta, 23-21.

Lackawanna: Sophomore defensive back Robert Kennedy (Jeannette) intercepted two passes and made five tackles in a 48-18 victory over Nassau Community College.

Kennedy has four interceptions and 28 tackles this season. One interesting thing about Kennedy is that he has not been on the losing end in 26 straight games dating back to high school.

His teammate, freshman Scott Houseman (Yough), now has two Division I offers. The 6-foot-4, 295-pound offensive lineman added St. Francis (Pa.), which joins Robert Morris as potential suitors after his junior college stint.

Also for Lackawanna, quarterback Collin Smith (Ligonier Valley) has appeared in two games and has attempted two passes.

Mercyhurst: Sophomore fullback Jason Armstrong (Latrobe) caught a 14-yard touchdown pass for the Lakers (3-5, 1-4 PSAC) in a 27-15 loss to Cal (Pa.). Armstrong has 15 receptions for 153 yards and five TDs this season, while freshman running back Dustin Shoaf (Yough) had 14 catches for 157 yards.

Saint Vincent: Junior running back Mike Stasko ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries to lead the Bearcats (2-5, 2-4 PAC) to a 21-17 victory over Waynesburg.

Stasko scored on a 6-yard run with 46 seconds remaining to put SVC ahead to stay.

Sophomore safety Tekoah Guedes intercepted a pass for the Bearcats with 20 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Waynesburg: Freshman running back Justin Flack (Derry) ran for a career-best 132 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries as the Yellow Jackets (1-7, 1-6) lost to Saint Vincent, 21-17.

Flack leads the team in rushing with 572 yards.

Women’s soccer

Pitt-Greensburg: Winning has become the norm this season for the Bobcats, who secured their first AMCC title with a 2-0 win over Penn State Behrend.

UPG (17-0) will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and will play at home throughout the playoffs. The Bobcats receive a bye into the semifinals.

In the latest win, sophomore Tiffany Michalek scored her 17th goal of the season and freshman Alexis Barlamas added the third of her career.

Sophomore Lauren Yoder made a season-high 13 saves and posted her 12th shutout in goal.