When Brianna Zajicek left Norwin, she thought she had her college basketball future mapped out.

But a coaching change prompted her to reroute her plans.

She arrived at Illinois-Springfield and is proud to call that school home these days.

Zajicek was leading all freshmen in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in scoring at 12.4 points per game.

She had four, 20-plus games and reached double figures 18 times for the Prairie Stars (4-23, 4-15).

Zajicek, a 5-foot-11 guard, had 22 points against Drury, which was ranked No. 2 in Division II as last week.

Women’s basketball

Chatham: The Cougars pulled a stunner in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference semifinals as they knocked off No. 1 seed Washington & Jefferson, on the road, 57-40.

Freshman Alyssa Laukus (Norwin) played a key role in the victory, collecting 12 points, four rebounds and three blocks.

Laukus has played in 25 games, starting 21 of them, and is averaging 11.2 points and 6.0 rebounds over 23.5 minutes a game.

Chatham fell to Saint Vincent in the PAC championship, 68-52, as Laukus scored 15 and added four rebounds.

Grove City: A 62-58 upset loss to No. 6 seed Westminster in the PAC quarterfinals brought an end to the basketball career of standout guard Megan Kallock (Greensburg Salem). Kallock had 19 points in the loss for No. 3 Grove City, giving her 917 career points in 62 games.

She initially began her college career at Saint Vincent before transferring and finding a lasting space to play at Grove City.

Kallock averaged 14.8 points for her career.

Marian: Junior Jayla Wehner (Norwin) had nine points and three assists in 24 minutes to help Marian to an 87-74 victory against Mt. Vernon Nazarene. Marian improved to 25-4 on the season.

Mercyhurst: Freshman Bailey Kuhns (Greensburg Central Catholic) scored 15 points and grabbed four rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench, but the Lakers fell to Gannon, 82-58.

Saint Vincent: The PAC-champion Bearcats (22-4) will make their fourth trip to the NCAA Division III Tournament, first since 2019. They will play Cortland on Friday night at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

SVC defeated Chatham, 68-52, before a sellout crowd at Carey Center to claim its third conference title in five years.

Junior guard Emily Cavacini was named PAC Tournament MVP after scoring 22 points, 14 in the second half.

Senior Ella Marconi added 12 points and rebounds, and junior Lizzie Bender came off the bench to score 12.

To get to the final, the Bearcats defeated visiting Westminster, 52-45, in the semifinals as Marconi had 22 points and 11 rebounds.

Opponents came in shooting just 31% against the Bearcats.

Seton Hill: Grad student Alie Seto posted up and made a turnaround layup with 1.5 seconds left to lift the Griffins to a 72-71 victory over visiting Mercyhurst in their final regular season game.

Junior Sakeria Haralson put together a triple-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks, while Seton scored 17 and grabbed eight rebounds, and freshman Helene Cowan scored 12.

Seton Hill (18-13) earned the sixth seed for the PSAC tournament.

Haralson was named the PSAC West co-defensive player of the week.

Men’s basketball

West Liberty: Junior Bryce Butler (Latrobe) has played a vital role in propelling the Hilltoppers to the No. 2 spot in the Atlantic region rankings.

IUP is No. 1. West Liberty (25-3, 20-3 MEC) recently won its sixth straight Mountain East Conference title, and 13th championship in 14 years.

Butler put up 23 points, 13 rebounds and five assists in a 103-91 win over Wheeling in the regular-season finale.

Butler leads the team in scoring at 22.5 points per game, rebounding (7.3), blocks (17) and is second with 102 assists.

He is shooting 59.2% from the field.

Wrestling

Pitt-Johnstown: Senior Nate Smith (Franklin Regional) won an NCAA Division Super Region I title, and sophomore Isaiah Vance (Hempfield) was a runner-up at East Stroudsburg.

Both qualified for the NCAA Division II Tournament. Smith was a champion at 157 pounds, while Vance competes as the Mountain Cats’ heavyweight.

Seton Hill: Junior John Meyers (Greensburg Salem) won an NCAA Division II Super Region I title at 285 pounds to secure a spot in the NCAA Championships.

He is the first regional champion from Seton Hill since Damon Greenwald (Burrell) won in 2018.

Baseball

Allegheny: Senior Sullivan Schueltz (Ligonier Valley) delivered a pinch-hit triple to score teammate and freshman Grant Dowden (Ligonier Valley), but the Gators lost their opener to John Carroll, 11-10.

Schueltz was 2 for 2 with two runs and three RBIs.

Seton Hill: The Griffins (4-2) posted three straight wins with a series sweep of Walsh. In the opening game, senior Jack Oberdorf (Greensburg Salem) tripled, homered and scored twice, and freshman Jack Whalen (Norwin) and Vincenzo Rauso had three hits each.

Junior Brandon Bergert, sophomore Blake Barker and freshman Derek Fravel combined on a two-hitter.

Grad student Logan Vietmeier and sophomore Michael Gregos each had two hits, with Gregos driving in two, in a 3-2 win in the second game.

A seven-run sixth inning propelled the Griffins to a 9-1 win in the third game as sophomore Max Mandler hit a two-run home run, and senior Braden Durham, Vinny Rauso and Vietmeier all drove in runs.

Oberdorf, Mandler and Rauso had two hits each.

Washington & Jefferson: Senior Tyler Horvat (Penn-Trafford) went 2 for 4 with two runs and an RBI, as the Presidents defeated Baldwin-Wallace, 10-9.

Baldwin-Wallace came in as the No. 10-ranked team in Division III.

Softball

Bowling Green: Freshman left fielder Katie Hutter (Mt. Pleasant) went 2 for 2 with a home run and four RBIs in a 10-9 loss to Evansville. She went 2 for 2 with two RBIs in a 7-6 victory over St. Thomas.

Ohio: Sophomore catcher Emma Hoffner (Hempfield) doubled and had a sacrifice as the Bobcats blanked Rider, 3-0. Hoffner was hitting .235 through eight games.

Robert Morris: Pitchers Jane Garver (Ligonier Valley) and Dana Vatakis (Monessen) combined with Madison DeVault on a three-hit shutout of Charleston.

Garver, a junior, worked 2 2/3 innings and struck out four, while grad-student Vatakis tossed 3 1/3 innings and did not allow a hit in a 4-0 victory.

DeVault worked a scoreless final inning.

Vatakis earned her first win of the season (1-3) and 33rd of her career (33-39).

Seton Hill: Sophomore Grace Paredes dropped a squeeze-bunt to score junior Nina Grandey as the Griffins (3-0) edged West Virgnia Wesleyan, 1-0, in eight innings to open the Glenville State Tournament.

Upike: Junior Carolyn Alincic (Mt. Pleasant) pitched a one-hit shutout as Upike defeated Bluefield, 2-0. She struck out 12 and issued zero walks to improve to 2-0 for the season. Alincic was named the Mid-South Conference Pitcher of the Week.

Men’s volleyball

Thiel: Sophomore JC Govannucci (Norwin) posted 10 kills to power the Tomcats past Hiram, 3-0.

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