BASKETBALL | Area colleges

Thiel: Sophomore forward Amber Bodrick (Cardinal Mooney/Youngstown) and senior guard Nicole Valentino (Sharon) have been named to the All-Presidents' Athletic Conference team. Bodrick was named to the first team for the second straight season while Valentino was an honorable mention after being named to the All-PAC second team following the 2004 season. Bodrick finished the regular season with a 22.5-point scoring average to rank No. 5 in NCAA Dvision III. After Thiel lost to Washington & amp; Jefferson, 73-48, in the opening round of the PAC Championship Tournament, Bodrick climaxed the season with a a 22-1 average that ranked No. 2 in the PAC. She also ranked second in steals (51) and third in rebounds (8.4). Bodrick also became Thiel's 11th women's basketball player to eclipse the 1,000-point mark, doing so in just 47 games. She heads into her junior season eighth on the program's all-time scoring list with 1,044 points.
Valentino finished fifth in the PAC in scoring (13.0-point average) and tied for third in 3-point field goals made (48).
She became Thiel's 10th women's basketball player to reach 1,000 career points this season. She finished her career ninth with 1,040 points. Valentino also ranks fourth in career 3-point field goals with 140 and fourth in career free throws made with 234.
Westminster: The Titans' women's basketball team advanced to the finals of the 2007 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament with a 57-51 semifinal win over Washington & amp; Jefferson at Thomas More College's Connor Convocation in Crestview Hills, Ky. The No. 2-seeded Titans (22-5) will play in the finals today at 2 p.m. against No. 1 Thomas More. Westminster set a record for wins in a season, surpassing the 2004-05 team that won the PAC and advanced to the second round of the NCAA playoffs with a 21-8 record. Senior guard Desiree Sterling (Newton Falls) led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the fieldand 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Sterling also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds (all defensive) and two steals. Senior guards Nicole Fee (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock High) and Rachel Eaton (Rimersburg, Pa./Union) bucketed 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Titans. Emily Hays and Maria Hillenbrand led the No. 3-seeded Presidents (20-7) with 10 points apiece. Westminster took its largest lead of the first half into the locker room at halftime with a six-point, 30-24 advantage. Sterling was named 2007 PAC Player of the Year and fifth-year head coach Rosanne Scott was named 2007 PAC Coach of the Year. Sterling and senior forward/guard Emilee Ackerman (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) were also named first team all-PAC. Scott, a Struthers native who twice earned PAC Player of the Year honors during her playing career at Bethany, last earned PAC Coach of the Year honors in 2004 after guiding the Titans to a 15-11 record in her second year as coach.
Bethany: The fourth-seeded Bethany College women's basketball team chased the dream of a major upset in the semifinals of the PAC Tournament for the better part of 30 minutes, but top-seed and host Thomas More (Ky.)
College pulled away and held on for a 62-49 victory to end the Bison's season. Bethany (9-18) led the Saints (21-4) for most of the first half, until a late TMC run sent the hosts into the locker room with a 26-25 halftime lead. Thomas More was in front 10-9 until a three from junior Lisa Mitchell began a 7-0 spurt that gave BC their biggest lead of the game at 16-10. The Saints rallied to take a one-point lead before consecutive lay-ups from senior forward Courtney Irwin made it 23-20 Bethany with 3:26 to go before the half. However, the Saints would close the stanza by scoring six of the final eight points to claim a one-point lead at intermission.
Although Bethany shot just 35 percent (11-32) in the opening half, they committed only six turnovers and were paced by Irwin's 10 markers. The Saints, who received 10 points from Brooke Warner in the opening half, shot slightly better (43 percent) but made 10 miscues that were converted into eight Bison points. Bethany continued to stay right with Thomas More in the early part of the second half. The Saints led 33-31 before a lay-up by sophomore Caelyn DiSanti (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) and jumper from Mitchell gave BC their final lead of the night at 35-33.
Thomas More would finally take control of the game around the eight-minute mark. They scored six straight points after Bethany's final lead to take a four-point advantage and held that same margin until an Irwin jumper made it 41-39 Thomas
More with 8:07 on the clock. Over the next minute and a half, the game belonged to Warner. She scored four straight hoops to give her squad a six-point lead, then chased down an offensive rebound off a missed free throw, which led to a
three from Alex Gee to put the Saints on top 51-41. The Bison hit a foul shot to get within nine but the Saints scored seven in a row after that to cap the 17-3 run, which swelled their lead to 58-42 and Bethany never moved closer than
11 in the final two minutes. The Bison received outstanding scoring efforts from Mitchell and Irwin in the loss. Mitchell fired in 21 points, her fifth game this season with 20 or more,
while Irwin tallied 17 in her final game for the Green and White. Irwin also grabbed a team-leading eight rebounds, while DiSanti handed out five assists in the setback. Pacing the Saints was Warner, who recorded 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting.