by Matt Koll
It’s that time of year again. Time to bring your best. Time to win or go home. Time to rise up when the stakes are the highest. It’s the PAC Tournament.
Last year’s champion will bring the experience of victory, the Presidents of Washington and Jefferson come in as the top seed once again, and the top three seeds are only separated by one game in PAC play. We’re set to have another tournament full of fireworks. Let’s look at the field…
No. 1 WASHINGTON AND JEFFERSON PRESIDENTS (21-4, 18-2 PAC)
It’s what many have come to expect at this point. W&J is back as the top seed after putting together another fantastic regular season. But of course, while the #1 seed does come with a bye into the second round and home-court advantage, it doesn’t come with any guarantees beyond that. The Presidents have had each of their previous two seasons cut short of glory despite this prime position and will be hungry not to let that happen again.
As per usual, this is a complete team. Their 78.7 points per game rank 2nd in the conference, while their 56.2 points allowed per game rank second. They shoot better from the field (42.2%) than any of their PAC competition, while holding that competition to the lowest shooting percentage against (34.2%). Three-pointers? They can hit ‘em. At 32.8%, it’s the 2nd-best in the conference. Free throws? 77.8%. Best in the conference. Rebounding? Number one in rebounding margin at 9.1. They’ve even got the most blocked shots per game.
Of course, this comes with individual talent as well. Stellanie Loutsion’s 13.2 ppg ranks 6th in the conference and her impressive 87.3% free throw percentage is tops in the PAC. Meanwhile, Meghan Dryburgh is the conference’s best rebounder at 12.4 per game, while also ranking 3rd in blocked shots and 5th in assists.
While W&J’s 18-2 conference record is obviously impressive, their two losses did come against the two teams that landed just a game behind them in the PAC standings. Their first conference loss was by five points on the road against No. 3 seed Chatham and their second loss came on Feb. 12 against Allegheny, a five point loss at home.
Regardless, this is another juggernaut of a squad that will be tough to eliminate.
Next game: Thursday 7 pm vs. winner of Grove City/Saint Vincent
No. 2 ALLEGHENY GATORS (18-7, 17-3 PAC)
It’s always best to be playing your best this time of year, and that’s exactly what the Allegheny Gators are doing. Winners of five straight and 10 of their last 11 games, Allegheny’s got a hot hand and a first round bye to set themselves up for a championship run.
And they’ve got some star power as well. It’s an offensive three-headed monster led by Emily Lauer, averaging 17 points per game (3rd in PAC), along with Sarah Santicola’s 13 points per game (7th in PAC) and Bella Antonacci’s 11.5 points per game (14th in PAC). Santicola is also a fierce rebounder, averaging 10.9 per game, which is good for second in the conference, and it makes her the only PAC player to average a double-double per game.
Defensively, the Gators are stout across the board, ranking third or fourth in the conference in just about every major defensive category.
Allegheny should be riding an extra boost of confidence, having beaten No. 3 Chatham by 10 on the road in late January and then following that up by handing W&J one of two PAC losses in a five-point road victory just 12 days ago.
They’ve proven they can beat any team, anywhere. Now it’s just time to do it when it matters most.
Next game: Thursday 7 pm vs. winner of Chatham/Bethany
No. 3 CHATHAM COUGARS (19-5, 17-3 PAC)
Coach Saur says the key to a title run will be…”Staying in the moment, you can’t complete the ultimate mission on Tuesday night. You are only guaranteed one game, and our focus has to be in line with that.”
It was a great ride all the way to a championship for the Cougars in 2024. And this team is capable of repeating that feat. The talent and consistency is still there and now they have an added benefit that few teams have…
“Just that we know what these games feel like,” said head coach David Saur. “We’ve lived this experience as a core the last 3 years. It certainly helps to start the tournament playing in the Cougar Den.”
They won’t have the luxury of a first-round bye like they did last season, but as Saur mentioned, they are hosting the sixth-seeded Bethany Bison on their home court. The Cougars beat Bethany by 25 points earlier this season.
They’re also coming in red hot. Winners of seven straight to end the regular season, Chatham’s last loss came in late January. Interestingly, the seven-game winning streak mirrors the one they had coming into last year’s tournament, which culminated in a title.
Statistically, Chatham is arguably the most complete team in the conference. They were the highest-scoring team while simultaneously being the toughest defensive team in terms of points allowed per game. That’s a pretty good start. Let’s add in that they are the best three-point shooting team in the PAC in terms of shooting percentage, second in offensive rebounds, and third in rebounding margin. Oh, and they also take care of the ball. They finished the regular season with the best turnover margin and assist-to-turnover ratio.
But according to Saur, there’s one part of the game that travels most.
“The defensive identity is one you can take with you nightly. You have a lot more control of that. But the exciting part is, you know you have the ability to excel in a couple different style games. That is a big separator this time of year.”
Ashlie Louden leads the way offensively, averaging 15.5 ppg, which is good for 4th-best in the PAC. Louden, along with teammate Hannah Chenault, finished number two and number one, respectively, in three-point shooting percentage as well. Saur also gives great credit to Charjae Brock for stepping into the point guard position exclusively, something he says she wasn’t quite ready for last season. But through that, she’s turned into their most consistent two-way player (offense and defense), and her confidence has shot through the ceiling.
This Chatham team has all the ingredients to go back to back.
Next game: Tuesday 7 pm vs. No. 6 Bethany
No. 4 GROVE CITY WOLVERINES (17-10, 13-7 PAC)
Coach Baker says: The key to a title run will be…”to take care of the basketball, move well defensively, and win the rebounding game.”
Head coach Jason Baker has learned to focus more on the process than the results, and it seems like the process has yielded some fine results. The Wolverines were winners of seven of their previous nine games before falling to #5 Saint Vincent in the regular season finale. The silver lining in the loss is that it showed Baker what this team needs to do to be at its best.
“They really did a great job of keeping us off of the glass and turning us over,” said Baker. “For us it is those two things. We have to rebound and take care of the basketball. If we do those things, we feel like we can compete for a title.”
In the regular season, Grove City finished right in the middle of the PAC in terms of rebounding margin and just above that, fifth, in turnover margin. So, Baker may be on to something. If they can turn those categories into definitive wins rather than just relative washes or losses, these Wolverines could get to another level.
But before they can think about title chances, they’ll need to get past first-round opponent Saint Vincent. After chalking up a 12-point win earlier this season at home, Grove City lost by five on the road just a few days ago.
“We have learned that we need to outwork them to be successful,” Baker said. “They really beat us to rebounds and loose balls on Saturday.”
We’ll see if Grove City can rebound (literally and figuratively) and make a run.
Next game: Tuesday 7 pm vs. No. 5 Saint Vincent
No. 5 SAINT VINCENT BEARCATS (13-12, 12-8 PAC)
The Bearcats needed that win against Grove City Saturday. Not so much to secure a spot in the PAC Tournament, but to get some mojo going. Before that, Saint Vincent had lost four straight games. Two of those losses came to non-tournament teams.
Camdon Bashor led the way with 18 points in that win, and Makenna Maier chipped in 13. Those two have been the Bearcats’ offensive catalysts all season long and will need to continue to be on Tuesday night.
Saint Vincent has a feisty defense, ranking third in the PAC in points allowed per game (60.3). They don’t allow their opponents to get many open looks. This team is willing to outwork its opponents for victory, and you’d better be up to the task when you take them on.
Next game: Tuesday 7 pm @ No. 4 Grove City
No. 6 BETHANY BISON (13-12, 10-10 PAC)
The Bison have shown the ability for impressive offensive outbursts but have also shown that the offense can be fickle. No doubt about this though: the offense is led by two studs.
Lindsey Garrison averaged 13.8 points per game in the regular season (5th in PAC), while Kaedlee Potter averaged 12.5 points per game, also ranking in the conference’s top 10 scorers (9th). Potter also cracked the PAC top 10 in rebounding averaging 6.9 per game (10th) while teammate Kate Botti’s 7.6 rebounds per game finished 7th in the conference.
Chatham has proven to be a tough matchup for the Bison, having lost to them by 25 on the road and by 33 at home more recently.
Next game: Tuesday 7 pm @ No. 3 Chatham
