The Pioneers will miss the River States Conference (RSC) playoffs this year after losing both road games this weekend at Rio Grande and West Virginia Tech.

They went into the weekend needing only one win out to clinch a playoff berth.

“Our goal was to give it our all and hold nothing back,” sophomore guard Kaitlyn Smith said.

The story all season long for the Pioneers has been injuries. It didn’t help when junior guard, Maryssa Agurs, broke her hand in practice earlier last week prior to the must win games.  Agurs was second on the team in assists with 61 and was averaging 11 points per game.

On Friday, Point Park took to Ohio to play the Rio Grande RedStorm. After ten minutes, the Pioneers held a 20-13 lead.

The RedStorm responded with a 22-12 run in the second quarter to take the lead into halftime, 41-34.

Rio Grande kept its offense rolling after halftime to pull away from Point Park with a 65-52 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Pioneers could not keep Rio Grande out of the paint, as the RedStorm scored 54 points down low on the night.

With 4:47 to go in the game, Smith hit a jumper to pull the Pioneers within five. That was as close as they would get, as Rio Grande pulled away for a 92-78 victory.

Senior Ja’Nia McPhatter had 20 points and a career-high six 3-point field goals. Smith finished with 10 points and senior Devon Larkin shot seven for nine from the field, finishing with 14 points.

With the loss to Rio Grande, Point Park had no choice but to respond quickly Saturday at West Virginia Tech Saturday for a must-win game. The winner would get the last spot in the RSC playoffs.

West Virginia Tech set the tone early by opening the game on a 17-0 run. The hot-shooting Golden Bears finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field and 44 percent from behind the arc.

After trailing 41-29 at halftime, Point Park was unable to get any closer in the second half.

The Pioneers lost the must-win game, 89-62. They finished the 2016-17 campaign with an 18-12 overall record and an 8-9 RSC record after starting off 5-1 in conference play.

Larkin was the only Pioneer in double figures Saturday, recording a career-high 18 points to go along with 5 rebounds. Smith was the second-leading scorer with nine points. Senior Celina DiPietro finished her last game as a Pioneer with seven points and two steals.

McPhatter also played her final game as a Pioneer on Saturday. The regular season’s leading scorer only had five points and four assists in the finale, but finished the year leading the Pioneers with 353 total points which ranked 13th in the RSC.

She finished her Point Park career with 1,119 points and averaged 12.9 points per game in three seasons.

It was not the same Pioneer team at the end of the season that started the year. Injuries overtook a team that  was picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches’ poll.

“We couldn’t avoid some of our big time players getting injured throughout the season,” assistant coach April Austin said.

After the first five games, the Pioneers lost junior forward Sam Weir for the season, who was averaging 14.8 points per game. Smith then missed a few weeks with a foot injury, but eventually returned to the lineup after winter break. Agurs broke her hand in practice the last week of the regular season to add insult to injury.

Senior forward Carly Forse broke her elbow 14 games into the 2016-17 schedule, and was sidelined for the remainder of her senior season after averaging 10.5 points per game.

Forse said there is a chance to become eligible to play for one more semester, pending a decision from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA).

The 2016-17 season is officially in the books for Point Park. Head coach Tony Grenek led his squad through adversity and injuries, but came up short of a playoff spot for the first time in his Point Park coaching career that began in 2011-2012.

“Just because you don’t win a championship or make the playoffs doesn’t mean it wasn’t a successful season,” Grenek said. “These young ladies persevered through a lot, and they overcame so many challenges. They never quit fighting until the very end, and that’s all you can ask from them.”