W&J Women’s Basketball Earns ECAC Tournament Bid
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Washington & Jefferson College earned the No. 3 seed for the 2013 ECAC Division III Southern Division Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament on Monday.
The Presidents (20-8) will host sixth-seeded Penn State-Behrend (13-12) in the tournament’s opening round Wednesday with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 pm at the Henry Memorial Center.
Moravian is the top seed and will host No. 8 Neumann, while No. 7 Marywood visits No. 2 Swarthmore and No. 6 Carnegie Mellon travels to No. 3 Juniata. The semifinals and championship game will be held at the highest remaining seed on Saturday and Sunday following Wednesday’s quarterfinal round.
The Presidents are making their first trip to the ECAC Tournament since 2008 and fifth overall. W&J claimed the 1994 and 2008 ECAC South titles and owns an 8-2 record all-time in the tournament. The 1994 title was won at Moravian, while the 2008 Presidents cut down the nets at Gwynedd-Mercy.
Washington & Jefferson and Penn State-Behrend met during the opening weekend in the championship game of the Lions’ home tournament. The Presidents clipped the Lions 63-62 to earn the title behind 18 points, 11 rebounds and five steals from junior forward Chelsea Apke (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon).
W&J won 20 games for the seventh time under the direction of ninth-year Head Coach Jina DeRubbo (305-134, 16 years overall; 174-77 in 9 years at W&J) and ninth time in history. The Presidents advanced to the PAC Tournament championship game for the first time since 2009 where they fell to top-seeded Thomas More 72-59 on Saturday. W&J is making its seventh postseason appearance (four NCAA, three ECAC) under DeRubbo’s guidance.
Penn State-Behrend earned a spot in the ECAC field for the third consecutive season. The Lions, who won their opening ECAC game in each of the last two tournaments, own a 17-10 overall record. Penn State-Behrend claimed ECAC titles in 1992 and 1996.
The Lions, led by Head Coach Roz Fornari (343-193 in 21 years), lost to La Roche in the AMCC Tournament championship game 63-58.
The two programs are meeting for the 32nd time in history with the Presidents leading by a 16-15 margin.
