Westmoreland Campus Clippings: Hempfield's Burns solid in opener

Michelle Burns had a double-figure scoring debut for Point Park, which opened the women’s basketball season with a 92-83 loss to Bryant & Stratton-Buffalo.

Burns, a senior point guard from Hempfield who was tabbed a preseason all-conference player in the River States Athletic Conference, had 17 points, all in the final three quarters. She made 7 of 16 shots and grabbed five rebounds in 35 minutes.

Burns averaged 15.8 points and 4.2 assists last season.

Women’s cross country

Westmoreland County Community College: The Wolfpack dropped two spots to No. 4 in the latest NJCAA Division III Coaches’ rankings.

WCCC had a 1-2 finish at the Region XX meet at Hagerstown, Md.

Freshman Jen Depree (Latrobe) won the individual title in 23 minutes, 27.3 seconds to earn all-region honors, along with teammate and sophomore Olivia Jumper (Greensburg), who took second in 24:26.8.

WCCC will be back in action at the NJCAA championships Nov. 14 in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Football

Akron: Freshman wide receiver Nolan Labuda (Belle Vernon) announced he is entering the NCAA transfer portal. He played sparingly in the season opener against Western Michigan.

Labuda set eight school records at Belle Vernon. He finished with 70 receptions for 880 yards and 18 touchdowns.

East Carolina: Junior Robert Kennedy (Jeannette) has played in five games this season for the Pirates. He has 13 tackles and three pass break-ups.

Pitt: Redshirt sophomore Blake Zubovic (Belle Vernon) has seen playing time in five games this season. The 6-foot-4, 320-pounder plays on the offensive line for the Panthers.