It was a win and in situation for the Griffins as they traveled to Pitt Johnstown for a PSAC West contest on Wednesday evening.
Seton Hill clinched a PSAC Postseason berth with a 78-75 victory over the Mountain Cats. The Griffins are now 14-13 overall and 11-10 in the PSAC. UPJ finishes the season at 15-13 overall and 10-12 in the PSAC.
UPJ jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead over the Griffins less than three minutes into the first quarter. Over the next seven minutes, the Griffins went on a 14-0 run to take a 16-7 lead with 38 seconds to play.
Hallie Cowan had seven points and
Sakeria Haralson added four points during the run. SHU led 16-9 at the end of the quarter.
Christiane Frye,
Abby Mankins and
Hallie Cowan hit three pointers as the Griffins extended their lead to 25-15 midway through the second quarter. UPJ cut the lead to 29-23 with 2:19 to play in the half. Haralson followed with a layup and
Hallie Cowan scored the next five to put the Griffins in front 36-23 with 1:07 to play. SHU led 36-25 at the halftime break.
The Mountain Cats scored the first eight points of the third quarter to trim the SHU lead to three. Two Haralson free throws and a Frye layup pushed the lead back to 40-33 with 7:17 to play. UPJ then ran off eight straight to take a 41-40 lead with 4:10 left. The Griffins responded with a 10-0 run as they took a 50-41 lead with 1:52 left. Mankins and
Hallie Cowan each hit a three during the run. UPJ hit three three's in the final minute of the quarter to cut the Griffins lead to 52-50.
UPJ opened the fourth with a 9-4 run as they took a 59-56 lead two minutes into the quarter. Over the next two minutes, the Griffins answered with eight straight to take a 64-59 lead.
Mia Kalich scored four of the eight points. Four straight from UPJ put the Cats in front 69-68 with 3:21 to play.
Hallie Cowan answered with a basket to give SHU a 70-69 lead. UPJ answered right back with a bucket before Haralson hit a free throw to tie the score and Mankins made a layup with 1:07 to play to put SHU in front 73-71. Haralson hit a huge jumper from the left block to give SHU a 75-73 lead with 38 seconds left. Haralson got a rebound off a UPJ miss and
Helene Cowan went 2-2 from the line to extend the lead to 77-73 with 12 seconds left. UPJ got a quick basket before Mankins hit one of two to give SHU a 78-75 lead with nine seconds to play. UPJ missed a three and Haralson pulled down another board to close out the game.
Hallie Cowan led the Griffins with 22 points. Haralson posted a double double of 19 points and 17 rebounds. Frye finished with 12 points and Mankins added 11.
The Griffins will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon when they host Gannon.
