No. 19 Roaring Lions Travel to Mont Alto for PSUAC Semifinals Against Penn State Greater Allegheny

February 22, 2012

UNIONTOWN, Pa. - The no. 19 Penn State Fayette Roaring Lions (13-10, 12-2 PSUAC) earned their first ever no. 1-seed in the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference women's basketball tournament, and will take on no. 5-seed Penn State Greater Allegheny (11-14, 9-6 PSUAC) in the semifinals at Penn State Mont Alto on Friday at 1:00 p.m.

This is the third meeting between the teams this season, and comes on the heels of Greater Allegheny's quarterfinal win over no. 4-seed Penn State DuBois, 77-66, to advance them to the conference's "Final Four." Fayette received a bye in the quarterfinal round to advance to the semifinals.

The Roaring Lions ride a five-game winning streak that ended the regular season and capped the regular season title run for Fayette. Four Fayette players average double figures, as sophomore forward Jill Guthrie (Uniontown, Pa.) leads the Roaring Lions with 18.1 points per game and 8.7 rebounds per game, good for 11th and 24th, respectively, in the USCAA. Her points average is good for third in the conference. Freshman guard Caitlin Wontroba (Uniontown, Pa.) is fifth in the conference with 16.3 points per game. Junior guard's Kasey Ruble (Fairchance, Pa.) and Kaitlyn Novak (Bobtown, Pa.) average 11.7 and 11.3 points per game, respectively.

LIVE STATS/VIDEO: Live stats will be available at www.goroaringlions.com. A video feed is planned to air on www.psuacsports.com.

LAST TIME OUT: Four Roaring Lions finished in double figures and eight players scored as Fayette cruised to a 94-66 win over Penn State Scranton last Saturday. The win clinched the no. 1-seed outright for Fayette, and avoided a four-way tie with Penn State Beaver, Penn State Brandywine and DuBois.

Jill Guthrie led the way for the Roaring Lions with 23 points, while Caitlin Wontroba added 20 points and seven steals. Senior forward Heather Burton (Uniontown, Pa.) scored 12 points and sophomore forward Shelby Yourchik (Clarksville, Pa.) added 11 points for the Roaring Lions. Kasey Ruble narrowly missed her second straight double-double, pulling down nine rebounds to go with nine points.

SCOUTING GREATER ALLEGHENY: The Lady Lions are 11-14 overall and 9-6 in PSUAC play, including their win over DuBois in the first round of the PSUAC playoffs. Greater Allegheny began the conference season 7-3, but dropped three of their last four games in the regular season, including two against Fayette, to finish 8-6 and grab the no. 5-seed for the playoffs. Greater Allegheny is boosted by the return of senior forward Rachel Halaszynski, who missed several games midway through the season. Halaszynski paces the Lady Lions with 13.6 points, while sophomore guard Megan Brinkos adds 13.3 points per game. Freshman Christina Floyd grabs a team-high 12.7 rebounds per game, good for second in the USCAA and first in the PSUAC. Five Lady Lions average 8.0 points per game or better.

THIS YEAR VS. GA: Fayette grabbed the two regular season meetings between the teams with solid performances all around. The Roaring Lions swept Greater Allegheny for the first time in program history, scoring an 83-59 win on Jan. 31 at Greater Allegheny, and capping the season series with a 78-60 win on Feb. 8 during Fayette's inaugural "Think Pink" game. Jill Guthrie paced Fayette in each game, notching double-doubles in each. She scored a career-high 34 points and pulled down 17 rebounds in game one, before pulling down a career-high 19 rebounds and scoring 27 points in the rematch. Caitlin Wontroba added 17 points in the road contest while Kasey Ruble scored 13 at home for the Roaring Lions.

WINS MARK: Fayette's 13 wins in 2011-12 sets a program record for the five-year old squad. It eclipses the mark of 11 set in 2010-11. The Roaring Lions also defeated their first NCAA Division III opponent, knocking off Franciscan University, 74-73, on Nov. 22, 2011. It marked the program's second-ever non-conference win, with the first coming in Feb. 2010 against USCAA power Southern Virginia.

SPLITS: The Roaring Lions were 6-5 at home this season, 7-4 on the road and 0-1 in neutral site contests.

THE FIELD: The conference "Final Four" includes Fayette, Greater Allegheny, Penn State Beaver and Penn State Brandywine. No. 2-seed Beaver (15-9, 12-3 PSUAC) will meet no. 3-seed Brandywine (15-10, 12-3 PSUAC) in the other semifinal at 3:00 p.m. at Mont Alto. Both Beaver and Brandywine advanced to the semifinals with wins on Tuesday as Beaver knocked-off no. 7-seed Penn State Hazleton, 57-45, while Brandywine beat no. 6-seed Penn State Wilkes-Barre, 73-51. The championship game will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25 at Mont Alto.

Fayette went 4-1 against the tournament's remaining teams, beating Brandywine to go along with their sweep of Greater Allegheny. Their only loss came at Beaver, 74-68, on Jan. 23, but the Roaring Lions avenged their earlier defeat with a 73-52 win at home on Feb. 4 to earn a season series split with the Lady Lions.

USCAA TOURNAMENT: Fayette automatically earns the host school bid for the 2012 USCAA National Basketball Championships, held March 7-10 on the Fayette campus. The Roaring Lions will learn their seed and opponent next week, but are slotted to play the 5:30 p.m. game on Wednesday, March 7. This is the fourth straight year Fayette will host the tournament.

THINK PINK: The Roaring Lions' women's basketball team paired up with their male counterparts on Feb. 8 to help raise funds and awareness for cancer. Working with the local chapter of the American Cancer Society, the Roaring Lions' men's and women's basketball teams raised $1,206 in their inaugural event to be split between breast cancer research and awareness and the Coaches vs. Cancer initiative. Sponsors included Davis & Davis, Attorneys at Law, the Polynesian Tanning and Hair Salon, Armstrong Cable and 590 AM WMBS.

Regardless of their conference postseason outcome, Fayette will play in the 2012 USCAA National Basketball Championships on Wednesday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Center Main Arena. The event is open to the public and all-day tickets can be purchased at the gate for $7 per day.