The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford women's basketball team enters Wednesday night's Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championships opening round as the third seed and will host sixth seeded Pitt-Greensburg at 7 p.m. in the KOA Arena.
The Panthers have had a terrific season under first year head coach Sean Brown Sr. and are excited for the opportunity to play for a championship. Pitt-Bradford finished the regular season with an overall record of 16-9, including a 12-6 mark at home and an impressive 11-2 record at home.
"We just wrapped up a regular season with many ups and downs and now we're in the playoffs where everyone's records are the same at 0-0," Brown said. "You win and you move on or you lose and the season's over. Our ladies lost a one-point heartbreaker last year, which would've sent them to the championship game. We are grateful for the opportunity to avenge that loss on our home court."
The Panthers and Bobcats met twice this season with each team winning on their home floor. Pitt-Greensburg picked up a 69-60 victory on Dec. 12 while Pitt-Bradford evened the series with an 81-67 victory on Jan. 30 in the KOA Arena. Reigning AMCC Player of the Week Ali Rinfrette led the Panthers with 25 points and three steals in the victory.
Rinfrette has had an outstanding sophomore season, leading the Panthers in scoring, and is tied atop the conference, averaging 21.6 points per game. The Bradford native adds a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game. Kaserra Owens, who suffered a tough season-ending knee injury, averaged 11 points per game and 6.5 boards per game before her injury.
Abby Brate has had a stellar senior season. She has started all four years at point guard for the Panthers and her 2.2 assists to turnover ratio, as well as her 5.4 assists per game are among the best numbers in the nation. She also adds 10.7 points per game and team-best 2.7 steals per game on the defensive end.
The Bobcats finished the year 10-15, including an 8-10 mark in AMCC play and a tough 2-10 record on the road and are coming off a 60-50 loss to Penn State Behrend in their regular season finale.
Kelsey Oddis leads three Pitt-Greensburg players averaging double-figures with 12.5 points per game and a team-high 7.8 boards per game. Emily Nelson follows with 12 points per game and Sylvia Stuart adds 10.7 points per game. Chianti Sivek rounds out the Bobcats' offense with 9.4 points per game.
The winner of Wednesday night's game moves on to face second-seeded Penn State Behrend in the semifinal round at top-seeded La Roche College on Saturday afternoon at 3:30.
The championship game will be held Sunday afternoon at one at La Roche regardless of who will be playing for the title.
