by Matt Koll
After a COVID-shortened spring season in 2020, the lady hoops action will be a full-go this year. Last season saw the top-seeded Saint Vincent Bearcats win their 2nd PAC title (2018-19) over second-seeded Washington & Jefferson in a 65-61 thriller. Both programs are primed and ready to meet again at the end, but other top teams like Grove City, Bethany and Westminster might have something to say about that. Let’s check out how the conference shapes up this season.
#1 Saint Vincent (8 first place votes)
The Bearcats certainly made the most of the COVID season of 2020. In fact, they never lost a game going a perfect 10-0 in the regular season and winning their three PAC Tournament games on their way to a championship.
Saint Vincent brings a balanced attack with scorers like sophomore Emily Cavacini (13.0 ppg) and senior Taylor Geer (10.8 ppg) while junior Ella Marconi is averaging over 11 rebounds per game. The Bearcats survived a scare from conference opponent Waynesburg already this season, escaping with a 72-67 victory thanks to 18 points from Cavacini.
They’ll need to find their touch a little more as they begin conference play, as an early season matchup with Washington and Jefferson awaits on December 4th.
#2 Washington and Jefferson (2 first place votes)
The Presidents bring back plenty of experience as well as at least one new face that may make a difference. The experience lays in three seniors expected to get meaningful minutes this year, led by Piper Morningstar whose 13.2 points per game lead the team so far. Kam Lach and Aleena McDaniel figure to be part of the mix, too, while junior Sarah Berardelli has gotten off to a solid start to the year averaging 12 points and a little over seven rebounds per game in non-conference action.
Freshman Meghan Dryburgh has earned early minutes (28.6 per game) and has made good use of them so far. She’s averaging 8.4 points per game and cleaning up on the boards better than any other player on the team (9.4 rebounds per game).
They’ll have their sights set on another PAC title game appearance.
#3 Grove City
The Wolverines are a slightly younger team this year, with only one senior on the roster. But that senior is an important one, as Allison Podkul leads the team in minutes per game to start the season (24.5). Junior Megan Kallock has put together an impressive early season, pacing Grove City offensively with 18.5 points per game while scoring a game-high 19 points against conference opponent Franciscan.
This squad has also lead the PAC in scoring so far, while also being the best on the boards, averaging the most rebounds per game both offensively and defensively. Those are trends that can win a conference title. We’ll see if they can keep it up as they into the conference schedule.
#4 Bethany
It’s been a great start to the year in many ways for the Bison. They’ve won three consecutive games since losing their opener to Muskingum, they lead in scoring defense, field goal percentage, 3-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage and rebounding margin and on top of that, they have a couple of freshman sensations establish themselves already.
Ashleigh Wheeler is second on the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) while Lindsey Garrison leads the team and the conference in scoring posting 21.0 points per game so far.
“Lindsey and Ashleigh are great young players and we will continue to ask them to do their part in helping us continue to work towards our standards and goals this season,” said head coach Brian Sansom. “We won’t just rely on them solely as we ask each member of our program to do their part to help us ‘Raise The Standard’ because, on any given night, I feel we could have someone different lead the way for us.”
Senior Courtney Walker and Kelsie Meintel may be who he is referring to as others who will lead these team when called upon and sophomore Mackenzee Mason has shown off a balanced game to begin the season as well.
“Being such a young team having some early season success has been important,” said Sansom. “I would say a strength for us has been our ability to defend and play a faster pace! It’s really something our team has taken time to work at and now have taken pride in early on this season.”
Bethany will be a fun team to see what heights they can reach this season.
#5 Westminster
Junior Natalie Murrio has been one of the best scorers in the conference through the first few games of the season for the Titans, averaging 17.2 points per game. Right behind her, though, is junior Camden Hergenrother who’s averaged 16 while playing 30 minutes per game.
Westminster relies on junior Lindsay Bell to snatch up rebounds as she has almost 10 per game so far. The Titans will need Murrio and Hergenrother to provide the consistent spark to stay in contention.
#6 Chatham
The Chatham Cougars are using their non-conference schedule well. Very well. They went 5-0 over the month of November, including a 73-31 blowout win over Thiel.
Chatham uses a trio of graduate students to pace their offense. Julia Skowron, Brit Smith and Maddy Grennes have all averaged over nine points here in the early season and will continue to lead the way for this team. Each one of them hits the boards as well, averaging at least 6.7 rebounds per game.
Right now, they are the leaders in field goal and 3-point field goal percentage defense, a trend they hope to continue for the rest of the season.
#7 Geneva
The roster is made up of seven freshman and six sophomores, so the Golden Tornadoes will rely on their younger players to compete this season. Sophomore Cynthia Stewart is averaging 12.3 points per game while junior Mia San Nicolas figures to their top rebounder.
Heading into conference play, Geneva has to make sure it shoots the ball with more consistency than it’s shown in the non-conference portion of the schedule.
#8 Waynesburg
The Jackets are still searching for their first win of the season. But they came up just short against Saint Vincent on November 27, showing vast improvement. It was senior Kacey Kastroll that came up big in that one, scoring a game-high 22 points while fellow senior Brooke Fuller chipped in with a near double-double: eight points and nine rebounds.
Sophomore Avery Robinson is scoring in double digits to begin the season as well. In large part, the offense has been there but the defense has not. If they can elevate their play on that side of the ball, the wins may come their way.
#9 Thiel
It’s been a tough start to the season for the Tomcats, but what they do have going for them is some senior leadership. Senior Rachel Breckenridge leads the way in scoring (15.3 ppg), while Destiny Johnson (11.8 ppg) is the only other player scoring in double digits to begin the year. Colleen Trainer logs meaningful minutes from the senior class as well.
#10 Franciscan
The Barons are also searching for their first win of the year and have struggled most with being able to score consistently. This is a young team though, as it’s all freshmen providing the production in the early season: Felicia MacGillivray, Jazzlyn Melnyk and Madison Doan. MacGillivray is the leading scorer at 11 points per game, Doan is averaging 10 points per game and Melnyk brings a balanced game with 9.6 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game.
