The Pioneers put on an offensive and defensive clinic last Tuesday against Carlow University en route to a crucial win that kept their playoff hopes alive.

The women’s basketball team’s offense, which has been hot and cold all season long, found its rhythm on Tuesday against a struggling Celtics team.

Point Park opened the game with a full-court press on the Celtics, which helped them jump out to a 13-0 run in the first three minutes.

“There’s been a lot of inconsistencies on offense,” head coach Tony Grenek said. “We decided that we needed to start generating turnovers.”

The Pioneers ended up forcing 41 turnovers in the game, 25 of which were steals.

Point Park jumped out to an early 26-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Carlow shot poorly from the floor in the second quarter and only generated nine points against a full-court Pioneers defense. When the Celtics would break the press, their shots would not fall. They shot 6-25 from the field in the first half and trailed at halftime, 46-20.

With a comfortable lead, the Pioneers kept their foot on the gas pedal in the second half. The full court press kept generating turnovers, which led to an impressive night offensively for Point Park. The Pioneers shot 40 percent from the field and made 11 three-pointers. Five of those came from senior Ja’Nia McPhatter, who led all scorers with 17 points.

The Pioneers defeated the Celtics 92-66 to improve to 8-7 in the River States Conference (RSC).

Freshman Tyra James finished the game with 12 points and nine steals.

“This win was extremely important,” James said. “Coach [Grenek] told us if we wanted to make it to the playoffs, we had to win this game.”

The Pioneers had five players reach double figures in scoring. Senior Celina DiPietro had 11 points and six assists. Freshman Marissa Rose dropped a career high 15 points and sophomore guard Kaitlyn Smith had a season-high 14.

“It was really important that we were able to win by a lot,” Smith said. “We were able to show our athleticism and keep them from scoring.”

The Pioneers jumped to the No. 3 seed in the RSC East division with the win against Carlow combined with losses from Rio Grande and West Virginia Tech on Tuesday and Saturday.

Only two games remain on the regular season for Point Park, scheduled for this weekend against Rio Grande and West Virginia Tech. Friday’s game comes 10 days after Point Park’s victory against Carlow.

“We haven’t had ten days off in a long time,” Rose said. “It’s nice that we’ll be rested and ready to go next weekend.”

Only four teams from the RSC East division will make the postseason tournament. The Pioneers only need one win this weekend to get into the RSC tournament as a No. 4 seed. If the Pioneers win both, they will clinch the No. 3 seed. Losses in both will eliminate them from contention, and end their season.

The Pioneers already beat both Rio Grande and West Virginia Tech at home this season. They defeated Rio Grande 68-62 on Dec.2 and beat West Virginia Tech 71-54 the next afternoon.

This weekend’s grudge matches will determine the all three teams’ fates, as they all will be playing to keep their seasons alive.