PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Point Park women's basketball team completed the season sweep of non-conference opponent Salem University with a 77-66 win on senior night at CCAC-Allegheny.
In the win, Point Park shot an impressive 43.8% from beyond the arc as the Pioneers knocked down seven of their 16 shots from long range to help put them out ahead of Salem.
Ari Bleda and
Alexis Giles combined for five of the seven threes on the night. Bleda went 3-for-5 while Giles went 2-for-5. Bleda, a senior, had an impressive showing with a double-double that included 20 points and 10 rebounds to help lead the Pioneers.
Emma Pavelek was the only other Pioneer to score in double-digits with Pavelek scoring 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting in the matchup. Pavelek also dished out an impressive nine assists to lead Point Park.
The rest of the active Point Park seniors got in on the action with
Janiah Tillman and
Coral Homs each scoring seven and
Aichata Ballo with six. Homs and Ballo each picked up eight boards on the night.
The Pioneers forced 20 turnovers on the night resulting in 23 points off turnovers for Point Park. On the glass Point Park had a 45-32 advantage over the Tigers.
For Salem, Cassandra Smith and Liliani Krause each dropped 22 points apiece to lead the Tigers offense. Smith had a double-double as pulling down 10 boards to go along with her 22 points in the contest. Kamryn Ruffin also chipped in scoring 11 points to round out the major scoring for Salem. The Tigers forced Point Park to turn the ball over 23 times on the night.
From the floor Salem shot 40.4% going 23-for-57 on the night. The Tigers were 7-for-24 from beyond the arc shooting 29.2% in the matchup.
With the win Point Park advances to 9-18 on the year to close out the regular season. The Pioneers locked in the 10th seed in the Mountain East Conference Women's Basketball Tournament finishing with a 6-14 record in the conference play. The Pioneers will travel to Wheeling to play 7
th seed West Virginia State in the MEC First Round at WesBanco Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 5.
