GREENSBURG, Pa:  The Pitt-Greensburg women's basketball team posted a 70-59 victory over Franciscan University in the opening round of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference's postseason tournament. 

The win improves the Bobcats to 17-9 on the season and marks the first playoff win for the program since the 2008-2009 Championship season.  For Franciscan, their season comes to a close with a 10-15 record.

The opening half definitely had a playoff feel with both teams selling out on nearly every possession.  Neither team would hold more than a four point lead until the 5:29 mark when Kayla Dames (Oakdale, PA, Chartiers Valley) finished at the rim for her 1,000^th point.  A quick timeout followed to honor Dames with UPG holding a 25-19 advantage. 
 

Pitt-Greensburg Senior, Kayla Dames nets her 1000th career point

 The Barons would erase the deficit over the next two minutes to capture a three point lead with 3:05 remaining in the half.  Amanda Estok (Monroeville, PA, Gateway) would answer with a three at the 1:42 mark to knot the score at 28-28.  Morgan Biddle (Flinton, PA, Glendale) would put the Bobcats up two on the next possession, only to be answered once again by the Barons.  The physical first half saw nine lead changes and five ties before the Bobcats would take a 32-30 lead into halftime thanks to an Emily Nelson (New Stanton, PA, Hempfield) layup with 13 seconds left.

Franciscan would hold slight advantages in shooting, 39% to 35% and rebounds, 20-19, but a 44% (4-9) three point percentage by Pitt-Greensburg would balance things out as the Barons finished the first 0-4 from behind the three point arc.

Pitt-Greensburg was led by Biddle and Estok who finished the half with nine points apiece as Dames tallied five points and seven rebounds.

The first six and a half minutes of the second would remain tight until Pitt-Greensburg would mount a huge 21-7 run that started at the 13:28 mark and lasted all the way to just 4:19 minutes to play.  The near 10 minute run gave the Bobcats a 62-48 advantage.  They'd extend the lead to as many as 15 points down the stretch to hold the Barons off for the 70-59 victory.

Pitt-Greensburg stepped up their second half shooting on all fronts, finishing 41% from the floor, 50% (3-6) from three, and 73% (11-15) from the foul line to secure the victory.

Biddle was big, finishing the game with 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  Dames would add a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds to her 1000 point milestone.  Estok would round things out with 14 points and five boards.

The Pitt-Greensburg women travel to La Roche College to face Pitt-Bradford at 8:00pm on Friday in the AMCC tournament semifinal.  This will be the third time this season that the branch campus rivals will meet.  Bradford took the first meeting 73-57 on their home court, but Greensburg answered back with a 59-56 victory in Chambers Hall.  Friday's victor will move on to face the winner of #1 La Roche vs. #4 Penn State Altoona on Saturday, February 28^th for a chance at the AMCC Championship and the NCAA tournament bid that goes along with it.