Medaille Sports

For the fourth time in five seasons, the Lady Mavericks (24-2, 20-0) will host the AMCC tournament championship courtesy of a (71-57) win over Penn State-Altoona (20-7, 14-6) Friday afternoon in the first women‘s semi-final. Both teams started the game off a little shaky as the first three possessions of the game resulted in turnovers. The two teams combined for just (5) points and (2) field goals in the first (3) minutes. While both offenses were sputtering early, the Mavs interior defense was setting the tone for the rest of the game with two blocks and holding the Lady Lions to just (4) points in the first (6) minutes of the game. Turnovers were the story of the first half, with Medaille racking up (12) and Altoona giving it away (9) times. Altoona would keep it close in the first half, tying the game at (20) with (7:47) left in the first half on a great offensive effort, stealing the ball twice in the offensive zone and capitalizing on a two-on-one. However, that would be the closest it would get as just one minute later Tanisha Travis (Rochester, NY/Fairport) (pictured) came up with a monstrous block, her third of the game, on Kristen Kos and converted a strong post move on the other end to make it a (4) point game and steal all the momentum. Travis would finish the game with (6) blocks to go along with (21) points and (12) boards to lead the Lady Mavs into the Championship game. Coming out of the break, both teams would start off the exact opposite way they started in the first, scoring a combined (14) points in the first 4 minutes. Altoona would hang tough; however, missed shots and turnovers would prove costly as the Lady Mavs would go on a (22-8) run over an (11:20) time period including back-to-back triples from Kacie Mills (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore East), who would finish with (15) points and (5) assists, and Jordan Schrimmel (Cheektowaga, NY/Depew) at the (9) minute mark to all but seal the victory. The win improves Medaille’s overall record to (24-2), and they will now face the number (7) seeded Pitt-Bradford after the Lady Panthers pulled off the upset over number (3) Frostburg State 62-59. Tip-off is scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, February 27 at 1:00pm in the Sullivan Center.