The Seton Hill women's basketball team knew what it faced as it entered its regular season finale against Indiana (PA) on Wednesday evening in the McKenna Center.  It was win and you're in for the Griffins and all they needed to do was knock of the second seed in the west Crimson Hawks to earn a PSAC postseason bid.  The team used a strong second half in route to a 68-54 victory over IUP that secured a playoff spot for the Griffins.  SHU enters the PSAC postseason as the number six seed out of the west.  The Griffins finish the regular season with a 14-14 overall record and a 10-12 mark in PSAC play.  IUP falls to 19-7 overall and 16-6 in PSAC play.

The Griffins came out of the gate quick as Lindsey Mifsud drilled a three pointer and Jenna Kaufman followed with a layin to put the Griffins ahead 5-0 early in the contest.  Jharrin Gill hit one of two free throws and Hannah Laslo converted a bucket to extend the SHU lead to 8-2 with 6:00 to play in the quarter.  The turnover bug began to bite the Griffins as they finished the quarter with 10 turnovers and only scored two points the final six minutes and trailed the Crimson Hawks 11-10 after the first quarter of play.

Gill scored the first bucket of the second quarter to give SHU the 12-11 advantage but the Crimson Hawks went on an 11-4 run over a four minute stretch to take a 22-16 lead.  A layup from Chrisanna Green and a three pointer from Kaufman trimmed the IUP lead 22-21 with 3:38 to play.  SHU cut the lead to one two more times in the quarter but trailed 29-25 at the half.

The third quarter belonged to the Griffins as they outscored the Crimson Hawks by a 24-10 margin to go from trailing by four to leading by ten.  The teams exchanged buckets in the early part of the quarter but when Mariah Wells hit a three pointer at the 6:10 mark of the quarter, the Griffins took the lead for good at 34-32.  An old fashioned three point play from Kaufman pushed the Griffins lead to 39-32 with 4:51 to play in the quarter.  IUP answered with five straight to cut the lead to 39-37 but the Griffins closed the quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 49-39 lead into the fourth quarter.  Back to back threes from Mifsud and Kaufman were key in the run.

Back to back threes from Mifsud and Wells sandwiched between layins from Mifsud and Green allowed the Griffins to extend their lead to 59-40 with 6:42 to play in the quarter.  After five straight from IUP, Kaufman scored on a layin and Wells drained her third three of the game to push the lead back to 19 at 64-45 with 4:53 left in the contest.  IUP would get as close as 12 points but the Griffins punched their playoff ticket with a 68-54 victory.

Seton Hill shot 52% from the floor and 50% from three point land in the contest, including a scalding 65% in the second half from the floor.  SHU held the Crimson Hawks to just 29% for the game.  SHU was 17-26 from the floor in the second half while the Crimson Hawks shot just 9-32.  The Griffins outrebounded IUP by a 43-36 margin.  The Crimson Hawks did win the turnover battle, forcing 18 SHU turnovers while having only 7 turnovers themselves.

Jenna Kaufman posted her fourth double double of the season, posting 21 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.  She also added 3 assists and a block.  Lindsey Mifsud also reached double figures with 13 points.  Chrisanna Green was the third Griffin in double figures with 11 points.  She also added 7 rebounds.  Jharrin Gill finished the game with 9 points and 7 assists.  Mariah Wells nearly missed a double double with 9 points and 9 rebounds. 

Seton Hill will now travel to Gannon on Saturday afternoon for the first round of the PSAC Tournament.  The game will tip at 2 PM in the Hammermill Center.  The winner of the contest will travel to IUP on Tuesday evening for the PSAC quarterfinal.  SHU and Gannon split the regular season series by winning on each other's home court.  The Griffins used a 33-7 run over the game's final 15 minutes to earn a 62-49 victory over the Knights in Erie.  Jenna Kaufman led the Griffins with 16 points.  She also added 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 1 block.  Alexandra Hay also hit double figures with 12 points.  Hay also dished out 6 assists.  Chrisanna Green just missed double figures with 9 points.  The Knights then held SHU to just 21 points over the final three quarters of action in Greensburg for a 62-44 win.  Mariah Wells was the lone Griffin in double figures with 12 points.  Lindsey Mifsud finished the game with 9 points.  Halie Torris added 6 points off the bench.