PITTSBURGH, PA - The Medaille women's basketball team fell behind by (11) points midway through the first half of their AMCC semifinal game against Penn State-Behrend this evening. However, a strong second half on both ends of the floor led the Lady Mavs to a (58-49) victory and a trip to the conference title game.

A stifling defensive effort coupled with hot shooting on the offensive end in the second half swung the tide of the game as the Lady Mavs turned a (30-21) halftime deficit into a nine point win.  The Lady Mavs limited the Lions to a paltry (14.3%) shooting from the floor in the final (20) minutes while outscoring them (37-19) over that span.

Leading the way for Medaille was Joelle Pollak who poured in a game high (24) points, while knocking down three shots from behind the arc and grabbing six boards.  The only other Medaille player to reach double digits in scoring was Tanisha Travis who netted ten points while gathering in a game best nine boards and two blocked shots.

Rookie Morgan Howe came off the bench and pulled down eight caroms, including four off the offensive glass, while also scoring six points and blocking a pair of Lion shots.  Senior Meghan Dougherty also registered six points and chipped in with five boards and a team high three assists.

The Lady Mavs won the battle in the lane as they outscored Behrend (24-16) in the paint.  They also notched (15) second chance points to (11) for the Lions.  The Lady Mavs knocked down (52.0%) of their shots in the second half en route to the playoff victory.

They have won (13) straight and have captured victories in (21) of their last (22) games as they now stand at (22-4) on the year.  They will face a strong La Roche squad in the title game tomorrow on the Redhawks home floor at 3:00pm.  These two teams split their regular season meetings, with each holding serve at home.  The Lady Mavs beat La Roche on "Senior Day" last Saturday (59-56) to earn the #2 seed.  The Redhawks are two time defending AMCC Regular Season Champs while the Lady Mavs are looking for their fifth AMCC Tournament title in program history.

SEASON STATS