Ackerman leads Titans past Thiel

Emilee Ackerman had 31 points and 13 rebounds as Westminster rolled, 69-46.

By BILL ALBRIGHT

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. — Although the weather outside Buzz Ridl Gymnasium was rather mild, it took a while for the Westminster women’s basketball team to warm up against Thiel.

However, when the Titans began hitting on all cylinders, they made things look easy as they cruised to a 69-46 win Saturday in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference game.

“I kind of thought it might be that way with senior day and all of the things that were happening,” said Westminster coach Rosanne Scott, a native of Struthers. “Emilee [Ackerman] got into foul trouble and that hurt us in the first half when I had to take her out of the game. As a result, we were a little slow offensively.”

The Tomcats (7-15, 4-9) fell behind 18-7 but went on a 7-0 run to close their deficit. The Titans (14-9, 7-6) responded with a 10-7 run to take a 28-21 lead at halftime.

“Westminster is a pretty physical team and I think we did a good job of matching that in the first half,” Thiel coach Artina Trader said. “But in the second half, we simply didn’t come out and match their intensity.”

The Titans came out strong to begin the second period as they rode 12 points by Ackerman to a 20-5 run, extending their advantage to 48-26.

Ackerman finished with 31 points and 13 rebounds.

“There is a fire inside of me that makes me just go out and play as hard as I can,” said Ackerman. “Despite the foul problems, I knew we needed that, I was ready to do that and I felt it was time for me to step up as a leader for the team.”

Scott had a lot of praise for her senior leader.

“She was frustrated with having to sit out with those early fouls because she thought they were both ticky-tack calls,” said Scott. “She put the team on her shoulders and wasn’t about to let it slip away. She just played an outstanding game.”

Terese Marszalek added 10 points for the Titans.

For Thiel, Kim Stitt (Hickory) was the only player to reach double figures, with 10 points.

Thiel’s leading scorer, Amber Bodrick (Cardinal Mooney) didn’t play after suffering a concussion against Bethany Feb. 6.

“When you lose 20 points and 10 rebounds a game, it is hard to replace those kinds of numbers,” said Trader. “We are doing an OK job of moving the ball around offensively, but right now, we need to just do a much better job of that, especially with her out of the lineup.”