Paul Quinn College and Rochester College to Meet for the 2018 USCAA Women's Division I National Championship

Uniontown, PA - The Women’s Division I Basketball semifinals were held Friday morning at Main Arena on the campus of Penn State Fayette. The Paul Quinn Tigers advanced to their first USCAA Women’s Division I Basketball National Championship game in the 11:000 AM game, while the Rochester College Warriors advanced over Florida College during the 1:00 PM contest.

The top-seeded Tigers from Dallas, Texas entered halftime with a slim 33-31 advantage over Silver Lake College, who was riding the hot hand of Danielle Byrum. Byrum shot 3-6 from beyond the arc in the first half and finished the game with 12 points. But a third quarter surge from the Tigers allowed Paul Quinn to break the game open. They outscored Silver Lakes 26-14 in the third period and forced 9 turnovers in the second half. Guard R'Trevia Randolph shined with 13 of her 15 points in the second half, including going 3-3 from 3-point range. As a team, Paul Quinn won the battle in the paint, outrebounding Silver Lakes 57-41.

The second semifinal game today was a dog-fight until the end. Rochester and Florida were evenly matched in the first quarter, but the Lady Falcon defense pressured Rochester into turnovers and held the Warriors to just 5 points during the second quarter. The second half was a different story. Rochester made offensive adjustments, but still trailed 52-40 with 4:45 to go in regulation. A Beth McCord layup ended the drought and from there Rochester took control, chipping away with free throws and points in the paint. A Maddy Valko 3-pointer at the 1:55 mark cut the lead to 2, which set up two Alyssa Copley layups – first to tie the game, the second to win it.

Paul Quinn and Rochester play at 12:30 p.m. Saturday, March 3, 2018 at Penn State Fayette. Watch the championship game on basketball.theuscaa.com by clicking watch live.

-USCAA