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Westmoreland campus clippings: Saint Vincent women secure top seed for PAC tourney | TribLIVE.com
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Westmoreland campus clippings: Saint Vincent women secure top seed for PAC tourney

Bill Beckner
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Saint Vincent Athletics
Latrobe graduate Madison Kollar leads Saint Vincent into the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Tournament. The Bearcats are the top seed.

The Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s basketball championship will go through Latrobe.

Saint Vincent secured the top seed and home-court advantage for the tournament, set to run Monday through Saturday. The Bearcats (21-4, 15-1) get a double-bye — as does second-seeded Washington & Jefferson (18-7, 13-3) — to the semifinals, to be played Friday at Carey Center.

SVC, ranked No. 8 in the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region, will make its ninth consecutive trip to the semifinals but will be in search of its first PAC title.

The Bearcats posted their fifth straight win Saturday, 77-53 over visiting Chatham and also will host next Saturday’s championship game.

On Monday, No. 5 Bethany (13-12, 8-8) hosted No. 8 Thiel (6-19, 4-12), and No. 6 Westminster (8-17, 6-10) hosts No. 7 Waynesburg (8-17, 6-10). The quarterfinals are Wednesday with No. 3 Grove City (15-10, 10-6) and No. 4 Chatham (12-13) awaiting winners.

The PAC champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Women’s basketball

Bucknell: Senior forward Kaitlyn Slagus (Belle Vernon) was named Patriot League Player of the Week for the third time this season. Slagus averaged 17.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 1.5 steals while leading Bucknell to wins over Lehigh and Colgate. The Bison (21-4, 12-1) have won 11 straight games.

Slagus has scored in double figures in 11 consecutive games. She needs 11 rebounds to break the program’s career record.

IUP: Senior point guard Carolyn Appleby (Greensburg Central Catholic) became the third player in program history to surpass 1,500 career points. She had 21 points — her eighth game of at least 20 points — to lead the No. 3 Crimson Hawks (21-1) past Pitt-Johnstown, 57-35.

La Roche: AMCC leading scorer Jenna Cole (Norwin) had 25 points and eight rebounds to pace the Redhawks (16-8, 15-3) to a 73-64 victory over Penn State Altoona that won them the AMCC regular-season title and secured the No. 1 seed in the AMCC tournament.

Men’s basketball

Saint Vincent: Senior Tom Kromka picked the perfect time to reach a milestone.

The standout forward scored his 1,000th career point Saturday during the host Bearcats’ 80-73 senior day victory over Chatham at Carey Center.

Kromka, who transferred from Carnegie Mellon after his freshman year, eclipsed the 1,000-point mark on a layup at the 17:17 mark of the first half.

The 6-foot-5 Kromka finished with 20 points (10 of 13 free throws) and four blocks. He has 1,021 points in his career.

He helped lead SVC (21-4, 14-2) to the No. 1 seed in the upcoming PAC tournament.

The Bearcats will host a PAC quarterfinal game Tuesday night against an opponent to be determined.

Shippensburg: Sophomore guard Jake Biss (Latrobe) was named PSAC East Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. Biss averaged 23.5 points and shot 51.7 percent from the field across two wins, including a 7-for-11 effort from 3-point range and 10 of 10 free throws.

Washington & Jefferson: Sophomore guard Zach Queen (Hempfield) scored 12 points and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in a 67-58 loss to Grove City in the season finale. He made four 3-pointers to add to his single-season record, which stands at 78.

Wrestling

Iowa: Sophomore Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional) ranks 10th in the nation in Division I in technical falls, with six in a combined time of 15 minutes, 43 seconds.

Pitt-Johnstown: Junior 141-pounder Chris Eddins (Greensburg Salem) ranks as the sixth-most dominant wrestler in Division II in the latest NCAA results. He has a 4.13 average, which is based on falls, technical falls, major decisions and decisions, among other categories.

Eddins is third in NCAA Division II in technical falls, with five totaling 28 minutes, 13 seconds.

Penn State: Redshirt freshman Jarod Verkleeren (Hempfield) scored an 8-7 major decision at 157 pounds to help guide the top-ranked Nittany Lions to a 37-10 victory over Michgan State. Verkleeren is 14-6 this season.

Virginia Tech: The Hokies took care of No. 22 Virginia, 30-6, in the Virginia Commonweath Clash as No. 2 ranked 184-pounder Zack Zavatsky (Latrobe) won by technical fall (18-3). Zavatsky, a redshirt senior, is 20-2.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

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