HAMBURG, N.Y. – The Hilbert College women's basketball team earned the program's 1st automatic bid to the NCAA Division III National Championship tournament today after they ran away with 76-52 conference championship title game victory over No. 2 seed Mt. Aloysius College in front of a supportive and energized crowd.

Coach Amy Senefelder managed the team to a 21-6 overall record in her first season.  The 2017-18 Hawks were picked 7th in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference's Coaches Preseason Poll and by the completion of the regular season they went 16-2 in league play, earned the right to host the postseason tournament and broke every win record in the program's history.

"I couldn't be more proud of how this team showed up this weekend and did EXACTLY what they needed to do," said coach Amy Senefelder.  "Their never-settle attitude has been contagious all season, and I'm just happy they let me come along for the ride.  Our leadership is outstanding, all our post players came up big today, and our guards played 40 minutes of tough defense."

"We had a goal of holding Mt. Aloysius to under 60 points, and as a coaching staff, we felt that would give us a chance to win the game.   This team made that happen and now we get to go to the big dance!  Every member of the program, including my staff and managers, contributed to this moment, and I'm very thankful it all came together for them today."

Hilbert, who led the AMCC in field goal percent defense, held the Mounties 28.3% from the floor and they made only 7-of-29 three point shots. Mt. Aloysius, who entered the game coming off a double overtime victory against Bradford yesterday, ran out of gas early. 

Hilbert finished the day shooting .488 percent from the floor and .517 in the second half.  The Hawks controlled the glass, holding a 48-31 edge in rebounds and were credited with 19 assists.

Hilbert won the first and third quarters by a combined seven points and outdistanced the Mounties by eight in the third and nine in the fourth.  The Hawks went on a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter, stretching their 14-point lead to a 25-point spread which ultimately put the game out of reach for the visitors.  

Senior Kelsi Ebert found herself in early foul trouble but she played composed as she finished with 24 points, and triple 6's in rebounds, steals and assists.  She quarterbacked the offense and hit big threes in the closing quarters with a defender in her face.

Sophomore Ashley Repine notched her seventh double-double striking for 21 points and 12 rebounds (five on the offensive glass) and closed with four blocks in 36 minutes of action.  At times, she owed the paint and played within her capabilities helping the Hawks in the victory. 

Sophomore Taylor Corts drilled three shots from downtown to finish with nine points and eight rebounds as well as four assist.  Corts stepped up to the defensive challenge of guarding Jessa Wright who was the league's leader in 3-point shooting percentage and makes.  Wright finished with only two makes out of nine attempts and was held scoreless in the second half.

Sophomore Emily Gawlak reversed Cort's numbers by scoring eight points and grabbing nine rebounds in 39 minutes of action.  She challenged the Mounties in the full court and came up with another big steal in the fourth quarter of the game, which added to the Hawks momentum.

"Emily is always our unsung defensive hero," said Senefelder.  "Her full contributions rarely show up on the stat sheet, but her defensive presence is irreplaceable to the team."
Katelyn Proy played a larger part in the team's success than what her eight points, five rebounds indicate.  She added three assists and one steal while taking on defensive challenges outside of her normal assignment.

Freshman Abbey Monahan played tough and came up with big scores as she collected six points, two rebounds and one assist in 14 minutes of action.

Junior Morgan McNeill came off the bench and gave quality minutes.  She kept play alive on the offensive end for Hilbert with two offensive rebounds (four total) while contributing to the total team effort on defense.

"They are the most coachable kids I've ever worked with, and that's what makes us great.   We are excited to watch the NCAA selection show tomorrow afternoon to see where we head next,"said Senefelder.

The 2018 NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Committee is set to announce the 64-team field for the 2018 NCAA Women's Basketball Championship at 2:30 pm on Monday, February 26 on NCAA.com.

Prior to distributing the individual player awards and conference championship Cup, Hilbert's Kelsi Ebert and Ashley Repine in addition to Jesse Wright and Abby Kulick (Mt. Aloysius) were  joined by Ali Rinfrette (Bradford), Dani Reinwald (Medaille), Erick Woll (Behrend) and Darrien Johnson (La Roche) on the 2018 AMCC Postseason All-Tournament team. 

Please check back on Tuesday, February 27th for the 2017-18 AMCC Postseason honors (Coach of the Year, Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and the three five-person All-Conference teams) which will be announced by the league office.