The PAC Tournament concludes this weekend as a couple local teams are still alive in search of the conferences’ automatic bid to the Division III NCAA Tournament.
On the women’s side, No. 3 seed W&J advanced to the PAC semifinals to take on No. 2 seed Saint Vincent Friday evening at Thomas More College.
Valerie Dunlap posted another double-double with 13 points and tying her career high with 17 rebounds in Wednesday’s 62-52 quarterfinals victory over Westminster.
Dunlap was one of four Presidents to finish in double figures as Beka Bellhy (16, nine rebounds), Alexa DelGreco (13) and Taylor Cortazzo (13) also contributed offensively.
The Presidents split their previous two meetings with Saint Vincent this year, losing 90-61 early in the season at Latrobe before getting a bit of revenge with a 74-73 victory later in the season.
The winner of the semifinals matchup will likely have to face the No. 1 team in the nation, Thomas More, in the finals.
Another team that expected to be playing this weekend was the fourth-seeded Waynesburg Yellow Jackets, but Waynesburg was upset 66-57 at home against Grove City in the quarterfinals.
The Jackets were led in scoring by Lauren Blair, Rebecca Kerr and Heather Davis, all with 12 points. Grove City jumped out to a 12-2 lead and Waynesburg never recovered.
The Waynesburg men had better fortunes though this week.
The No. 2 seeded Yellow Jackets defeated No. 3 seed Bethany 70-57 on Thursday evening to advance to the PAC finals for the first time since 2006.
The win was Waynesburg’s ninth in a row.
Four different Waynesburg players scored in double figures. Senior Jacob Fleegle led the way with a team-high 13 points. Forward Jason Propst (12), guard B.J. Durham (12) and Byrum Louco (10) also were big contributors in the win.
Waynesburg will meet top-seeded Saint Vincent on Saturday with an NCAA berth on the line. The two teams split the regular season series, with both teams winning at home.
Photo Credit: Washington and Jefferson College
