The Pioneers women’s basketball team is still undefeated at their home court of CCAC after two more wins this past week. The first win was against the St Mary-Woods Pomeroys in a tough 78-71 victory.
The Pomeroys and the Pioneers were both sitting at second place in the River States Conference (RSC), with Point Park being the two seed in the East and St Mary-Woods being the two seed in the West. This matchup was meaningful to both, as these two squads have playoff positions to hold. Each team hoped to become a higher seed, as doing so would allow them to play most of the playoffs at home.
The Pioneer’s second victory was against the Indiana University (IU) Kokomo Cougars. The Cougars are a team that has a historic rivalry with the Pioneers. The Pioneers remained unfazed and dominated this game, eventually coming out on top with a 101-72 win.
The matchup against St Mary-Woods was one to be prepared for. As mentioned earlier, the Pomeroys are the second seed in the RSC West, further proving that this could be anyone’s game to win. The Pioneers started off in a good position, having a tight yet early lead with a 20-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. Ari Bleda led the charge with seven early points.
One early issue in the game concerned starting center Gabi Legister, who got into foul trouble with two fouls. Backup Fatim Sarr-Ndow had been great as of late, so this wasn’t too bad. That was until Sarr-Ndow would also pick up two fouls. This forced both players to be more careful with their defense and rebounding, as both had to attempt to avoid contact.
The Pomeroys attacked the paint, and their starting guard Brooklynn Jones would score jump shots in the paint for what seemed like almost every possession and ended the first half with 12 points. This would give the Pomeroys a five point lead at halftime. The Pioneers could not get anything going, especially from the perimeter shooting 2-8 from behind the arc. This women’s team has great jump shooters, so seeing this early struggle wasn’t too worrying; a team of this caliber would eventually make shots they are familiar with.
In the third quarter, the Pomeroys would take over early with an eventual 10 point lead. Well-timed baskets from Gillian Piccolino would keep the Pioneers alive and end the quarter only down five. The Pomeroys leading scorer this season based on point per game has been Madison Fueger, who averages fourteen points per game. Coach Scarborough definitely had a gameplan to slow her down, resulting in Fueger only scoring five points.
The fourth quarter was smooth sailing for the Pioneers. After starting down early, one huge play – a three-pointer by Gabi Legister – would change the team’s energy. This three -pointer would be Legister’s first of the season, and the team was all smiles afterwards and used this as momentum. Legister, who started off slow, would score 10 points in the fourth quarter and show off that D1 talent. The defense would adjust and slow down the big scorers for the Pomeroys. This all would lead to an incredible comeback and a 27-15 fourth quarter in favor of Point Park. The Pioneers would come out victorious 78-71.
Momentum was in favor of the Pioneers going into their matchup against IU Kokomo. Point Park fired early and won the first quarter 34-17. The starting lineup for the Pioneers got score after score. Starting guard Lexi Giles’ three-point shooting was the key to success, as in the first quarter she would make three of her four three-point attempts. She went on to score 11 first quarter points and never slowed down.
In the second quarter, Legister scored nine points and Giles would be back for seven more points of her own and extend the Pioneers lead to a 59-38 first half.
The third quarter seemed like a broken record, as Point Park again dominated, led by Lexi Giles and Gillian Piccolino. This lead would never be given up, being way too much for the Cougars to handle. Lexi Giles would go for a college career high of 26 points and shoot an incredible 7-9 from three. Giles is a very talented player and shooter, but so far in this season she has not shot the best from the outside. This game showcased Giles’s potential and demonstrated why she has been named a starter all season. Three of the other four starters would go for thirteen points, each, while Emma Pavelek would get 12 points.
These are victories with so much meaning, beating two teams with good records and good standings. This women’s team will be playing February 3 at WVU Tech in another conference matchup.
