Alice Lloyd 63 PPU WBB 57
Alice Lloyd was the one team this season that has solved Point Park at home and they did the same on the road.
Katresa Savisky led Point Park with a career high 24 points while Emily Schartner had 15 points.
“I have huge respect for them,” Head Coach Tony Grenek said. “They legitimately have a weapon at each position.”
The Pioneers struggled early just to put the ball in the basket and scored just 19 points in the first half. Leading scorer Ja’Nia McPhatter was contained in the first half. The only saving grace were Schartner and Savisky who combined for 15 of the 19 first half points. As the half progressed Alice Lloyd led 27-19.
Carla Booth was a big factor in the game scoring 24 points of her own for Alice Lloyd.
“She was absolutely incredible,” Grenek said. “It wasn’t like we didn’t have a hand in her face, she was making big time shots at critical times.”
The Pioneers defense keyed in on Ariel Nickell who is second in the entire NAIA Division II with 25.1 points per game and she was held to 12 points.
Savisky scored 18 points in the second half and was a huge key in the Point Park rally efforts.
The Pioneers went on a 12-0 run which ended with a Schartner three that tied the game, however with under six minutes left in regulation Booth hit a big shot to put Alice Lloyd up 52-45.
Point Park rallied back due in large part to a key sequence. The Pioneers blew a four on one, and then on the other end, McPhatter blocked Nickell on a three and one. Schartner made a three on the other end to cut the deficit to two points.
“There were so many crazy sequences in that game,” Grenek said. “In the first half and really the entire game we squandered so many opportunities where we couldn’t even catch the ball.”
Alice Lloyd was too much from three point range down the stretch though and despite not making the free throws down the stretch, they defended a Point Park inbounds pass to seal the win.
The loss ended Point Park’s winning streak at eight games.
PPU MBB 80 Alice Lloyd 74
It was a first for the Point Park men as they were able to get their first road win of the season and have a winning streak once again, this one of two games.
The Pioneers, now over .500 once again with a 7-6 record were led by Gabe McNeal who had a career-high 27 points.
The Point Park men came prepared and ready to play up 43-33 at the half. The lead extended to as much as 17 points and with five minutes to play led 71-54.
Alice Lloyd then came back as the team went on a quick 16-2 run to cut the Point Park lead to 73-70. The Pioneers would hang on despite a season high 24 turnovers. T.J. Heatherington made important free throws down the stretch.
Jimmy Taylor had 17 points in the game while Asa Braxton had 12 putting three Point Park players in double figures.
Asbury 83 PPU WBB 75
In the first game it was the offense that looked stagnant but in this game Asbury’s offense proved too much for Point Park and it led to a loss – a loss in which they gave up a season high 83 points.
Despite the high total, Asbury averages 85 points a game and Grenek was pleased with his team’s defensive effort.
“Asbury likes to play high tempo and shot the ball really well,” Grenek said. “I don’t think we played poorly defensively, they were earning their shots. We probably played better defensively at Asbury than at Alice Lloyd.”
Laura Carroll had a career-high 28 points including making 14 of 15 shots from the free throw line.
McPhatter had 22 rebounds and April Austin had 21 points including five makes from three-point range. Savisky continued her steady play with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
The majority of the game appeared to be a call-response as Asbury would appear to create separation and Point Park would reply and tie the game or come close.
At the half, Asbury led 38-35. Both Carroll and Austin had 16 points. Asbury was 41.4 percent from the field while the Pioneers were 32.4 percent. Asbury stayed out of foul trouble fouling only five times compared to Point Park’s nine.
Things remained close in the second half and Point Park would take the lead thanks to McPhatter who made a jumper and a three. Add that with a Savisky jumper and Point Park was up 47-43 with 16:30 to play.
Asbury would regroup and Trenia Barbee made a three with 12:32 left in regulation. All of a sudden, Asbury was up by four points. Like Nickell from the Alice Lloyd game, Barbee has been a force offensively this season and her 22.7 points per game are third in the NAIA DII.
The game continued going back and forth but Asbury shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and that would do Point Park in.
Down the stretch, Carroll made a basket to give her team an eight point lead with 1:47 left in regulation and made their free throws from there.
The Point Park ladies are now 12-4 overall and 6-3 in the KIAC. With the two losses, the Pioneers are no longer on top of the KIAC and instead trail Alice Lloyd. They are ahead of Asbury for third place.
“It was a tough trip for us,” Grenek said. “We played two very good teams on back to back days and we gave ourselves an opportunity to win both games.”
The numbers don’t lie and Point Park will face Maine Fort Kent on Wednesday before traveling to Kentucky on Thursday for three games. It is action such as this that will prepare the team come tournament time.
“We play six games in 10 days with 35 hours of bus travel and five of the six games are on the road,” Grenek said. “Once we get to January 13, our schedule levels off and becomes normal again. I told our team if you want to win a national championship you have to win five games in six days in the national tournament. I think this prepares us for that run at the end of the year that we can make.”
PPU MBB 102 Asbury 97
The Point Park men capped off a perfect 2-0 weekend with this win against Asbury.
The win put the Pioneer winning streak at three and also redeemed the loss earlier in the season to the same Asbury team, a 91-72 loss at home.
In this game, T.J. Heatherington had 34 points while McNeal continued his stellar play with 25 points. Adam Delph, the former walk-on at the University of Kentucky had 24 points to lead his team.
Head Coach Bob Rager made adjustments to the starting lineup and Jimmy Taylor saw time as a starter in addition to McNeal who has started the past few games.
It was an evenly matched game for a bit of the first half, however with 10:54 to play in the first half, Heatherington made a jumper and he was fouled. Upon making the free throw, Point Park was on top 27-16. The men kept a double digit lead for most of the half.
When Asbury tried to make a run, Point Park came back McNeal and Matt Noszka teamed up to make three consecutive shots from deep to give their team a 53-32 lead at the half.
With 11:53 left in the second half the men were up by 23, however Asbury made a run and inside of a minute, the team trailed the Pioneers were on top 98-95.
Point Park was unfazed though and Heatherington nailed a jumper and sank two free throws to seal the win.
The win puts Point Park at 8-6 overall and 4-4 in the KIAC. They will visit Penn State Fayette Monday and then will join the ladies on the Kentucky road trip where they will play twice.
Photo Credits: Point Park
