The women’s basketball team faced seven opponents over winter break, four of which were River States Conference (RSC) teams.

Of those four games, the Pioneers went 2-2, advancing their overall RSC record to 2-4 and placing them fourth in the RSC East Division as they go into the new year.

Point Park began their break by hosting conference opponent WVU Tech on Dec. 8. Junior guard Tyra James led all scorers with 20 points, but it was a last-second long jump shot from sophomore guard Michelle Burns that handed the Golden Bears their first and only RSC loss of the season so far, with Burns’s shot clutching the game 61-59 for the Pioneers.

Despite the closeness on the scoreboard, Point Park led in every line of the stat sheet except free throws. The Pioneers out-rebounded WVU Tech 42-39, forced 13 turnovers, and shot 36 percent from beyond the arc, compared to the Golden Bears’ 17 percent.

One week after the buzzer-beater win, Point Park traveled to Rio Grande for a matchup against the No.20 ranked team.

The RedStorm used their size to their advantage and out-rebounded the Pioneers 57-36, ultimately handing them a 69-55 win.

Three Pioneers contributed double digits to the scoreboard, with Burns scoring a team-high 14 points and senior Sam Weir and captain Kaitlyn Smith tallying 12 points apiece.

After the loss to Rio Grande, Point Park started a stretch of three non-conference games, all held in Pittsburgh, but all held at different venues.

The first game in the stretch was on Dec. 17th against Washington Adventist University.

Weir posted a double-double, grabbing ten rebounds and notching 20 points, which put her over the 1,000 career point mark in her time at Point Park. Ten total players for the Pioneers contributed at least four points.

The Pioneers saw season highs in points (74), field goals (25), 3-pointers (nine), assists (19), scoring margin (+30), rebounds (46), rebound margin (+13) and free-throw percentage (.938; 15 for 16) in their game against the Shock.

Twelve days after a game of highs, Point Park hosted (RV) Lawrence Tech at the Community College of Beaver County.

Weir posted another double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, as well as two other Pioneers in double digits with Smith and Burns tallying 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Despite being down just one point at halftime, Point Park was outscored 35-15 in the second half, resulting in a 65-46 loss for the Pioneers.

Two days later, Point Park celebrated the last day of 2018 with a 61-59 win over the last non-conference opponent they would see over the break, Mount Vernon Nazarene University.

Junior guard Ariana Sanders tied with Burns for a team-high 13 points, but it was the Point Park defense that held off the Cougars late in the fourth quarter to hold on for the win.

The new year brought a similar story for the Pioneers as they narrowly defeated RSC opponent Midway 71-68, giving them their first back-to-back wins of the season.

Smith led all scorers with 19 points, and Weir and Sanders both posted double-doubles with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 points and 12 rebounds, respectively.

The Pioneers’ final game over break was a road matchup against the RSC West Division’s Cincinnati Christian University.

Weir recorded her fourth double-double in seven games with 13 points and 14 rebounds, but Point Park as a team shot only 32 percent from the field and 31 percent from beyond the arc, which ended in a 68-50 loss.

Point Park will return to CCAC – Allegheny on Jan. 12 for an RSC game against Ohio Christian before a brief road trip the following weekend to face Brescia University and IU – Southeast.