Three-pointer At Buzzer Gives Penn State Beaver 59-58 Win Over Lady Builders

UNIONTOWN, PA. - The Apprentice School saw its 2009 U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association Women's Basketball National Championship dream snap on a 25-foot 3-point shot from Ashley Jenkins at the buzzer to lift sixth-seeded Penn State Beaver to a 59-58 victory over the Lady Builders.

Apprentice School (16-12) will now face tenth-seeded Indiana University Northwest at 1 pm on Friday in the fifth-place bracket in the 12-team tournament.  Penn State Beaver advances to face second-seeded Spalding University in a Friday semifinal.

The first half saw neither team hold more than a three-point advantage.  Penn State Beaver was up 22-19 with 1:47 left in the half on a Jasmine Green layup.  The Lady Builders closed the half scoring the last five points to take a 24-22 halftime lead on a Denise Hamilton jumper with 1:06 left.

In the second half, the Lady Lions opened the half scoring nine of the first 11 points to take a 31-26 advantage on a free throw from Laura Perkins at the 16:31 mark.  Apprentice School answered with a 13-2 run for a 39-33 lead on a Rahshann Lewter jumper with 10:57 left.  After the Lady Lions tied the game at 41-all on a Heather Sandusky tipin with 8:10 left, the teams were never separated by more than three points the rest of the game.

Sandusky's two free throws with 72 seconds left tied the game for the 11^th time at 54-all.  Apprentice School's LaTorya Grimes' jumper 20 seconds later gave the Lady Builders a 56-54 lead.  Penn State Beaver's Shelby Parks jumper in the lane tied the score at 56-all to set the stage for the final heroics.

Apprentice School held the ball until Valleri West snuck in behind the defense and caught a pass from Lewter for a short jumper to put the Lady Builders ahead 58-56 with 3.9 seconds left.  Following a pair of timeouts and a deflected pass, Green dribbled up and found Jenkins on the right wing where she turned and banked in the winning bucket at the buzzer.

Hamilton was the leading scorer for Apprentice School with 17 points while Lewter added 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds and West chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Green was the leading scorer for Penn State Beaver with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

PENN STATE BEAVER 59, APPRENTICE SCHOOL 58
PENN STATE BEAVER (26-4)
Jasmine Green 6-18 4-8 16; Heather Sandusky 4-14 4-4 13; Ashley Jenkins 3-12
2-4 10; Laura Perkins 2-6 1-2 7; Alonna Verrico 2-7 1-4 5; Katie Landis 2-3
0-0 4; Shelby Parks 1-2 0-0 2; Tasia McCargo 1-2 0-0 2; Jamie Karpinski 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 21-64 12-22 59.
APPRENTICE SCHOOL (16-12)
Denise Hamilton 7-15 2-4 17; Rahshann Lewter 5-18 4-5 14; Valleri West 6-7
1-4 13; LaTorya Grimes 3-6 3-3 9; Upenda Morton 1-8 0-0 3; Shameka Warren
1-3 0-0 2; Tyisha Battle 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-60 10-16 58.
Penn State Beaver.............   22   37  -   59
Apprentice School.............   24   34  -   58
3-point goals--Penn State Beaver 5-24 (Laura Perkins 2-6; Ashley Jenkins
2-9; Heather Sandusky 1-7; Tasia McCargo 0-1; Jasmine Green 0-1), Apprentice
School 2-18 (Denise Hamilton 1-5; Upenda Morton 1-7; Rahshann Lewter 0-6).
Fouled out--Penn State Beaver-Katie Landis, Apprentice School-None.
Rebounds--Penn State Beaver 51 (Jasmine Green 13), Apprentice School 41
(Valleri West 10). Assists--Penn State Beaver 11 (Jasmine Green 6),
Apprentice School 15 (Rahshann Lewter 11). Total fouls--Penn State Beaver
14, Apprentice School 17. Technical fouls--Penn State Beaver-None,
Apprentice School-None.