Keystone Connection
Pennsylvania's IUP and Holy Family to meet in Elite Eight in Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania hit the trifecta in the first round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Elite Eight.
Two teams from Pennsylvania are going to square off in the first round of the tournament at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh next week.
Holy Family (30-4), from northeast Philadelphia, plays IUP (29-3), located 45 miles from Pittsburgh, at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in the second of four national quarterfinals. The winner advances to Thursday’s semifinals against the winner of the first game between Colorado Mesa (36-1) and Minnesota Duluth (28-3). Grand Valley State (33-1) plays Carson Newman (24-10), and Cal Poly Pomona (29-4) faces UAH (31-5) in the evening games.
Holy Family completed a historic run to the Elite Eight. The Tigers beat Daemen, 78-62, for their first East Region championship and became the first team from the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference to claim the region title. The conference joined Division II in 2002.
Holy Family is the seventh seed opposite second-seeded IUP, which appeared in its first Elite Eight in 1999 and reached the national semifinals in 2018 and 2019.
The CCAC also includes Felician, Caldwell, Chestnut Hill, Jefferson, Post, Georgian Court, Bridgeport, Dominican, Goldey-Beacom and Wilmington. IUP has played some of those teams in the past, but this is the first meeting with Holy Family.
Holy Family started the season 8-3, won 19 straight and lost to Felician at the buzzer in the CACC championship game. The Tigers earned the fifth seed in the East Region tournament and beat Assumption (58-38), Southern Connecticut State (61-51) and Daemen.
The starting lineup features experience with four seniors and size with 6-foot-1 and 6-foot post players.
The starters are Taylor Hinkle (5-10 Sr. G, 13.9 ppg, 12.1 rpg), Kaelah Carter (5-7 Sr. G, 9.6), Claire Dougherty (6-1 Sr. F/C, 8.1), Kara Meredith (6-0 Jr. F, 7.7) and Skyler Searfoss (5-8 Sr. G, 5.7, 136 assists).
The reserves are Norwin High School product Lauren Palangio (6-1 So. F/C, 6.7), Ella Brown (5-9 Fr. G, 6.5), Amy Ngo (5-6 So. G, 4.0) and Lola Ibarrondo (5-7 So. G, 4.0). They accounted for 32 points in the region championship game.
Holy Family led the championship game 16-2 and didn’t let the margin slip below 11. Searfoss scored 14 points and was the tournament most outstanding player. Carter also scored 14 to go with 14 rebounds and made the all-tournament team. Brown scored 16 points on the strength of four 3-pointers. Meredith and Palangio had 10 apiece.
Holy Family leans on defense and rebounding, allowing 50.7 points per game and holding opponents to 33.8 percent shooting overall and 24.5 from 3-point range. The Tigers allowed more than 60 points only eight times, with a high of 66. Opponents shoot only 6.5 free throws per game. They have a plus-12.6 rebound margin.
The Tigers score 69.7 points per game but shoot only 39.9 percent overall and 33.8 percent from 3-point range and average 16.7 assists and 13.2 turnovers.
Bernadette Laukaitis is a 2000 Holy Family graduate in her seventh season as head coach. She is 129-54 at Holy Family.
IUP is 6-0 in the postseason. The Crimson Hawks swept Millersville (77-43), Edinboro (71-55) and Gannon (61-57) in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference tournament.
They entered the Atlantic Region tournament as the top seed and defended their home court with wins over Charleston (79-53), Seton Hill (94-87) and Winston-Salem State (65-64).
The Seton Hill-IUP game featured a captivating offensive performance by both teams in the half, the Griffins in the third quarter to surge into the lead and the Hawks in the fourth when they rallied for the victory.
The win over Winston-Salem one-upped that one. IUP trailed 64-60 with 40 seconds to play and scored the last five points, pulling out a 65-64 win on Marin Miller’s 3-point field goal with 5.8 seconds left.
ELITE EIGHT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals
All games at Cooper Fieldhouse,
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh
(Seeds, records in parentheses)
Tuesday’s Games
Colorado Mesa (3, 36-1) vs. Minnesota Duluth (6, 28-3), noon
IUP (2, 29-3) vs. Holy Family (7, 30-4), 2:30 p.m.
Grand Valley State (1, 33-1) vs. Carson Newman (8, 24-10), 6 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona (4, 29-4) vs. UAH (5, 31-5), 8:30 p.m.
Thursday’s Games
Semifinals
Times TBA
Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
Saturday’s Game
Championship
Semifinal winners, 3 p.m.