No. 1 Seed Fayette Takes on No. 3 Seed Penn State Brandywine for PSUAC Title

February 24, 2012

MONT ALTO, Pa. - No. 1-seed Penn State Fayette earned their first trip to the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference title game behind a strong defensive effort as the Roaring Lions pulled away from no. 5-seed Penn State Greater Allegheny in the second half to cruise to an 81-60 win on Friday afternoon in the tournament semifinals at Penn State Mont Alto. Fayette will clash in the title game with no. 3-seed Penn State Brandywine, a 63-49 winner over no. 2-seed Penn State Beaver on Friday.

The Roaring Lions (14-10, 13-2 PSUAC) ride a six-game win streak into the title game, and used their third win of the season over Greater Allegheny to advance to the championship game.

Let's take a closer look at the 2012 PSUAC Championship match-up.

LIVE STATS/VIDEO: Live stats will be available at www.goroaringlions.com. A live video feed will be available at www.psuacsports.com (if you are unable to find the video feed on the PSUAC website, please visit www.psubeaverathletics.com and click on any of their previous video feeds and you should be directed to the live feed).

LAST TIME OUT: Sophomore forward Jill Guthrie (Uniontown, Pa.) notched her third double-double in 2012 against Penn State Greater Allegheny, leading all scorers with 28 points and grabbing 16 rebounds, as the Roaring Lions took down the Lady Lions, 81-60, in the PSUAC semifinals. Freshman Caitlin Wontroba (Uniontown, Pa.) added 24 points for Fayette, including three three-pointers, and junior Kasey Ruble (Fairchance, Pa.) added 15 points and nine rebounds.

The win marks Fayette's second postseason victory in the program's five-year history, and advances them to their first conference championship game.

SCOUTING BRANDYWINE: Penn State Brandywine enters the championship game after a 63-49 win over Penn State Beaver in the other conference semifinal. The Lady Lions are 16-10 overall and 13-3 in the PSUAC, including two wins this postseason. Brandywine won their quarterfinal over Penn State Wilkes-Barre, 73-51.

Cashae Hinton and Shari Harper lead the Lady Lions with 13 points per game, while Amanda Congialdi adds 11.6 points per game on 44 percent shooting. Bobbi Caprice rounds out Brandywine's double figures scorers with 10.9 points per game. The Lady Lions average nearly five three-point field goals per game, and force 11.4 steals each time out.

THIS YEAR VS. BRANDYWINE: The Roaring Lions traveled to Brandywine two weeks ago, coming back to tie the score at the end of regulation and overtaking the Lady Lions, 91-85, in overtime. The Roaring Lions placed four players in double figures, as Caitlin Wontroba led all scorers with 29 points. Junior Kaitlyn Novak (Bobtown, Pa.) added 23 points and Jill Guthrie scored 17 points for Fayette. Kasey Ruble scored 14 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line against the Lady Lions. Shari Harper led Brandywine with 25 points, as Fayette handed the Lady Lions their third loss in conference play.

SEASON OF RECORDS: Fayette continues to set records this season. The 14-wins sets a program record, eclipsing their total of 11 in 2010-11, and the 12 regular season conference wins this season is also a new mark. The 2012 PSUAC title game will be the program's first appearance in the game, a week after winning the program's first-ever regular season championship.

SPLITS: Fayette improved to 1-1 in neutral site games with the win over Greater Allegheny, and is 6-5 at home and 7-4 on the road.

USCAA TOURNAMENT: Fayette automatically earns the host school bid for the 2012 USCAA National Basketball Championships, held March 7-10 on the Fayette campus. The Roaring Lions will learn their seed and opponent next week, but are slotted to play the 5:30 p.m. game on Wednesday, March 7. This is the fourth straight year Fayette will host the tournament.

Regardless of the outcome of the conference finals, Fayette will play in the 2012 USCAA National Basketball Championships on Wednesday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Center Main Arena. The event is open to the public and all-day tickets can be purchased at the gate for $7 per day.