Westminster women advance to PAC semifinals with 61-41 victory

The Titans defeated Chatham College for the third time this season.

By BILL ALBRIGHT

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

NEW WILMINGTON — The Westminster Titans were hoping the third time wouldn’t be a charm for Chatham College.

Having already defeated the Cougars twice during the regular season, the Titans completed the hat trick Tuesday night in the quarterfinal round of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference tournament with a 61-41 victory.

Chatham ended its initial season in the PAC at 10-16, while the Titans (16-10) advance to face Washington & Jefferson in the semifinal round Friday at 6 p.m. at top-seed Thomas More.

“I told my girls that this game would probably be the hardest on they played all season,” said Westminster coach Rosanne Scott. “It is the play-in game, we had just faced them and every year, this game is always a battle. We know them and they know us and what it comes down to is executing a game plan.”

Although his team lost by 20 points, Chatham coach Mark Katarksi liked what he saw from his young squad.

“For 20 minutes, we did what we wanted to do,” said Katarski, “Our kids had an energy level to match the playoff level and I thought we defended very well for 20 minutes.”

The Titans sprinted out to a 9-3 lead in the first three minutes of the game and led by as many as eight (17-9) on seven straight points from Emilee Ackerman.

However, Chatham kept hanging around until they cut the Titans lead to four points (25-21) at halftime.

“I was happy with the way we remained poised,” said Scott. “We were missing some layups in the first half that could have really helped us, but they stayed poised. Our leaders on this team have been in that position before and that really helped us.”

The Titans gave themselves some breathing room as they opened the second half with a 9-2 run to lead by 11. But the Cougars battled back to get to within four before the Titans ripped the game open with a 16-2 run.

“At halftime I switched from what we were doing offensively and I think that really helped us in that run,” said Scott. “Once we realized exactly what defense they [Chatham] were playing, we went to some different looks. Things really started working for us and that is why we were able to get out to the big lead.”

Katarski had good things to say about Ackerman.

“They did what good teams do,” said Katarski. “Emilee is just amazing. We tried to recruit her when I was a Pitt-Greensburg. She does a lot of good things and I think her teammates feed off of her. What it came down to is that they deserved to win in the second half. We didn’t really lose it, but rather they played well enough to win it.”

Ackerman led the Titans with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Amy Dolsak (McDonald) added 19 points and five boards. Teresa Marszalek finished with seven points and 10 rebounds.

Kayla Hilko led Chatham with 13 points, while Barb Petty added 10.