Westmoreland Campus Clippings: UPG women win 3rd straight

The Pitt-Greensburg women’s basketball team is surging closer to first place in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

The Bobcats made it three straight wins Saturday at Alfred State, 74-61, behind four double-digit scorers.

Junior Nadege Durand had 22 points on 10-of-18 shooting, freshman Melina Maietta (Greensburg Central Catholic) had 20 points, including 4-of-5 shooting from 3, six rebounds and six assists, to pace UPG (10-2, 5-0), which was a half-game behind Penn State Behrend for first in the conference.

Junior Shaquoia McCoy added 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Maddie Sitler chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

The Bobcats, averaging 69.3 points, had 54 rebounds to Alfred State’s 33.

Grove City: Senior forward Allison Podkul (Hempfield) scored 13 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, and freshman Mara Polczynski chipped in eight points, but the Wolverines (6-5, 3-2 PAC) fell to Washington & Jefferson, 75-53.

Podkul was coming off a big game against Chatham. She had 19 points and 13 rebounds in a 59-40 win, and junior guard Megan Kallock scored 13 for the Wolverines.

Point Park: Grad guard Michelle Burns (Hempfield) poured in 28 points to go with six rebounds and five assists as the Pioneers (10-5, 3-3 River States Conference) toppled Alice Lloyd, 79-72. Burns became one of four players to tally 1,600 career points, raising her total to 1,626, fourth on the program’s scoring list.

St. Joseph’s: In 10 games, grad guard Alayna Gribble (Norwin) is averaging 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 29.4 minutes. Gribble played at Pitt before taking time off after battling concussions.

Westminster: Senior guard Mara Polczynski (Norwin) had 12 points and three assists, and freshman Mackenzie Powell (Penn-Trafford) added 10 points to pace the Titans (8-5, 5-2) to a 62-56 victory over Bethany in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference.

Polczynski went for 10 points, a season-best eight rebounds and five steals in a 55-35 victory over Franciscan.

Men’s basketball

Charlotte: Grad guard Austin Butler (Latrobe) put up 12 points and 10 rebounds to pace the 49ers to a 66-53 victory over UTEP.

Pitt-Greensburg: UPG (5-9, 3-2 AMCC) returned from a 10-day layoff and downed Alfred State, 75-70, as seniors JoJo France and Matt Johnson scored 26 and 17 points.

France hit five 3-pointers, and sophomore Micah Jones pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds.

Because of covid postponements, the Bobcats have not played at home since Dec. 20.

Robert Morris: Junior 6-foot-11 forward Brandon Stone (Southmoreland/The Christ School) is averaging 2.4 points in 12.7 minutes off the bench for the Colonials. Stone, a La Salle transfer, is working his way back from an injury.

Saint Vincent: The Bearcats extinguished a seven-game losing streak with a 65-61 victory over Thiel to improve to 2-9 on the season. Sophomore Anthony Dillard led the way with 26 points and sophomore Osyon Jones added 17 for Saint Vincent, which produced 31 second-chance points to Thiel’s two.

West Liberty: Sophomore Bryce Butler (Latrobe) scored a team-high 23 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished five assists, but the No. 8 Hilltoppers (14-2, 8-2 Mountain East) fell 100-97 to Fairmont State.

Wrestling

Bucknell: Senior Zach Hartman (Belle Vernon), ranked No. 18 in the country at 165 pounds, recorded his team-leading sixth pin of the season to pace the Bison to a 31-9 win over Brown.

Sophomore Kurt Phipps (Norwin) added a major-decision victory at 133 and is 9-1 (4-0 in EIWA duals).

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Jaden Datz (Southmoreland) won an individual championship at the Will Abele Invitational at Ursinus. The 174-pounder finished 4-0 with two falls, a technical fall and a 14-6 decision against Norwich’s Daniel Curran in the finals.

He was named the PAC Wrestler of the Week.