Apke’s Late Basket Lifts Presidents Into ECAC Semifinals
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Junior forward Chelsea Apke’s (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) off-balanced jumper with 4.1 seconds remaining proved to be the game-winning basket as third-seeded Washington & Jefferson College pulled out a 62-59 victory over sixth-seeded Penn State-Behrend in the ECAC Division III Southern Division Women’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Henry Memorial Center.
Watch the highlight of Apke's game-winning basket
Apke grabbed a deflected inbound pass and nailed a five-foot jumper in the lane, while being fouled. She missed the free throw, but junior point guard Kara Seamon (Morgantown, W. Va./University) grabbed the rebound, was fouled and sank a pair of shots from the charity stripe. The Lions' final heave from half court was blocked by sophomore guard Erin Lavery (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic).
Washington & Jefferson (21-8) will face second-seeded Swarthmore Saturday at 2:00 pm. Top-seeded Moravian will host the semifinal and championship rounds in Bethlehem, Pa., and faces No. 4 Juniata at 4:00 pm in the semifinals. Sunday's championship game is slated for 1:00 pm.
W&J trailed by three with under a minute to play, but a layup from Apke brought the Presidents to within one. PSB missed two shots and committed a turnover during its final possessions.
Early on, Apke and senior guard Emily Abraham (Canfield, Ohio/Boardman) combined for 13 points as W&J used a 15-4 run to break open a one-point game midway through the first half. Apke netted seven points and Abraham capped the spurt with her second triple, pushing the lead to 12 (36-24 with 1:17 left in half).
Behrend battled back late in the half as Holly Burquin’s three-point play sent the Lions into halftime trailing 37-30. PSB netted the first four points of the second stanza and later strung together a 7-0 spurt spanning four minutes to take its biggest lead at four points (49-45). The Lions remained in the lead until Apke’s game-clinching jumper.
Abraham matched a career high with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting (4-9 3PT), while Apke tallied 17 points (8-13 FG), four rebounds and three steals. Sophomore center Valerie Dunlap (Hostetter, Pa./Latrobe) contributed 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds and Seamon dished out six assists.
Bourquin shot 11-of-17 to lead all scorers with 23 points. Aly Eagle added 15 points, while Emily Detsch tallied 10.
Both teams shot 43 percent from the field (W&J 25-57; PSB 25-58) and made six triples. The Presidents held a 35-31 edge on the glass.
