Area grads pace Titans to OT victory over Thiel

By Bill Albright

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. — At first glance at the team’s records, Thiel’s women’s basketball matchup with Westminster was expected to be a close game.

The teams didn’t disappoint, as the Titans outscored the Tomcats 14-8 in overtime for a 76-70 victory Wednesday night.

“We knew coming in that it was going to be a battle like that and we were just hoping not to get down early in the game,” said Westminster coach Rosanne Scott. “Thiel has a great team and they get ahead on teams and they are difficult to come back on. My focus was for us to try and just stay even with them and we were able to do that.”

Tomcats coach Artina Trader felt it was pretty much what she expected from the Titans.

“No matter what Westminster’s record is, they always play the same, physical style,” said Trader. “They just never give up and I knew it was going to be a battle all the way.”

Although they trailed for most of the opening 20 minutes, the Titans hung around until they took their first lead in the game at 24-23 on a free throw by Kaitlin McCarthy (Lowellville) with two minutes left in the period.

Thiel (6-7, 2-4 Presidents’ Athletic Conference) led by as many as eight points (15-7) and later by five (23-18) before the Titans went on a 9-2 run to close out the half for a 27-25 halftime lead.

The Titans (6-7, 3-3) came out strong to begin the second half as they put together an 8-3 run for a 35-28 lead.

Katherine Khattab led the Titan spurt with six straight points.

“I never think that we are going to cruise,” said Scott. “After the first half, it was them get ahead, then we would get ahead and by the end of the game, we were able to get some lucky, real lucky shots. We banked a 3 in to tie it and you take those lucky bounces and move forward with them.”

Although they trailed by 10 points, Thiel had some unfinished business to take care of.

Picking up the intensity on both end of the floor, the Tomcats clawed their way back to a 58-all tie with three minutes left before the two teams were deadlocked at 62-all at the end of regulation.

Despite the loss, Trader was happy with the play of her young lineup that included three freshmen on the floor at the same time.

“For the last 10 minutes of the game, I had Rianne Thornton, Ashley Davis and Towanda-Michelle Warren on the floor,” said Trader. “They did what we asked them to do. They got some defensive stops at crucial times, but I guess we just didn’t make enough of them.”

For Westminster, Amy Dolsak (McDonald) had a double-double with 25 points and 18 rebounds, Gina Brunetti (Mooney) and McCarthy added 20 and 15 points, respectively.

For Thiel, Amber Bodrick (Mooney) and Warren paced the offensive attack with 16 points apiece.