W&J Men and Women win PAC tournament titles
It’ll be a double dose of Washington & Jefferson basketball in the NCAA Division III tournament.
The W&J men and women both won PAC tournament titles Saturday to clinch their spots in the D-III tournament.
The women defeated Saint Vincent, 64-43, to earn their second consecutive PAC tournament title. The men beat Westminster, 68-61, to earn their first PAC tournament championship since 2022.
After losing to Saint Vincent twice in the regular season, the W&J women went on the road Saturday to keep their conference tournament crown.
They pulled away with a 22-7 margin in the fourth quarter.
Canon-McMillan grad Stellanie Loutsion was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and had 17 points in the championship game.
Katie Kovalchick came through with a huge performance, scoring a game-high 22 points. She made a trio of three-pointers.
Trinity grad Riley DeRubbo scored 14 points, 11 of which came in the second half. DeRubbo was on the All-Tournament team. Marina Grado chipped in 10 points.
Saint Vincent (21-7) led 29-28 at halftime, but was limited by W&J (22-6) to 14 points in the second half.
W&J Men 68-61
The W&J men (22-6) hosted Westminster (19-9) and grinded out a win for their 11th PAC tournament title.
Westminster led 31-30 at halftime and extended their margin to seven points with 13:44 remaining.
The Presidents reeled the Titans back in and finished the game on an 11-3 run to secure victory.
Matthew Carte and Matt Seidl scored 16 points each for the Presidents and Noah Plotner finished with 14 points.
Both the W&J men and women will learn who they will meet in the NCAA Division III tournament on Monday.
The Men’s bracket will be revealed on the NCAA website at 1 p.m. and the women’s bracket will be announced at 2:30 p.m.
Cal splits with Slippery Rock
In the PSAC regular season finale, the California women were victorious over Slippery Rock, 91-64, on Saturday.
The Cal men dropped an 81-64 decision to Slippery Rock.
The Vulcans women (9-11, 13-17) started the game on a 23-0 run, built a 29-8 lead at the end of the first quarter and didn’t look back.
Hope Hawkins led the Vulcans with 22 points. Kennedy Bankett had 19 points and Trinity Balog scored 18. Kimaya Williams just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
The Vulcans held a 41-19 advantage on the boards.
California is the fifth place team in the PSAC West and travels to Edinboro, 5:30 p.m. Monday for a PSAC Tournament first round game. It’s the sixth time since 2016 the two schools have met in the PSAC Tournament.
Slippery Rock 81-64
Slippery Rock raced out to a 43-28 halftime lead to snap a five-game losing streak against Cal.
The Rock dominated on the boards, holding a 52-34 advantage. Elijah Hill led a balanced effort for the Rock with 18 points.
Dalman Alexander paced Cal with 13 points and Bryson Lucas scored 12.
Despite the loss Cal (16-4, 19-8) had already secured second place in the conference and a first-round bye in the PSAC tournament.
The Vulcans will host the winner of Shepherd and Lock Haven in the quarterfinals, 6 p.m. Wednesday.