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A graphic showing the 2025 PSUAC Women's Basketball playoff bracket.
A graphic showing the 2025 PSUAC Women's Basketball playoff bracket.
A graphic showing the 2025 PSUAC Women's Basketball playoff bracket.
Posted: Feb 26, 2025

All Top Seeds Remain in PSUAC Women's Basketball Semifinals

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - In a rare occurrence, all the top seeds remain in the semifinals for both the PSUAC men's and women's postseason brackets. The women's top seeds advanced and will host the no. 2 seed from their respective divisions on Wednesday and Thursday night for the opportunity to play in the PSUAC Women's Basketball Championship on Sunday.

Penn State Schuylkill and Penn State Shenango proved why they are no. 1 seeds in the PSUAC, each winning by double digits in the quarterfinals. They'll be joined in the semis by their closest challengers, with Penn State Beaver and Penn State York taking down rivals to advance a step closer to a championship appearance.

HOW WE GOT HERE

  • Shenango beat Penn State New Kensington Monday night by a score of 68-56, picking up their third win over their division foes in the 2024-2025 season. The game, however, was much closer than either of the regular season contests, which Shenango won by an average of 38.5 points. Shenango's Hailee Aguinaga and Shar'Da Williamson led the way for the top seed, scoring 16 and 12 points, respectively. Auginaga pulled down a ridiculous 19 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end, while Williamson also claimed a double-double with 12 rebounds. Some solid scoring off the bench for Shenango allowed them to cruise into the semifinals. Destiny Batiste scored 16 points in a losing effort, while teammates Tori Johnson and Kali Barnett added 13 and 12 points, respectively. 
  • Beaver won the closest game of the quartefinals, outscoring DuBois 16-8 in the final quarter to pick up a 71-65 win. Tied at 42 at halftime, DuBois grabbed a two point lead through three quarters before Beaver shut off the scoring for the visitors. DuBois shot just 3-for-13 from the field in the final quarter and turned the ball over seven times. Beaver capitalized on DuBois' mistakes, forcing 24 turnovers on the night and scoring 19 points off the miscues. Meanwhile, Beaver protected the ball and committed just six turnovers of their own. Beaver also outscored DuBois in the paint, 34-22 despite being outrebounded 42-27 by DuBois. Natalie Bowser and Shannon Shaw had 21 and 12 points for DuBois, but Beaver's consistent and spread out scoring was the difference. Four Beaver players reached double figures, including 13 from Bailey Rieg off the bench. Emery Black led Beaver with 15, while Katie Enderle added 14 and Taylor Woodruff 10.
  • Schuylkill consistently outpaced Penn State Hazleton in their quarterfinal match-up, finishing the three-game sweep of their I-81 rivals in 2024-2025. Schuylkill grabbed a 27-15 lead at halftime in what turned out to be a fairly defensive battle. Despite turning the ball over 20 times, Schuylkill was efficient with the shots it did get up, shooting 44 percent from the field and an impressive 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from behind the arc. Player of the Year contender Tajae Stevenson grabbed 13 rebounds to go with 22 points while also spreading the wealth with five assists. Allison Crockett was the only other Schuylkill player to reach double figures at 19. Surprisingly for Schuylkill, no other player had more than five points in the comfortable win. Hazleton was led by Brianna Kennedy's 19 points and Frankie Martinelli's 16.
  • York was another team to pick up a double-digit win, a 67-51 triumph over Penn State Mont Alto. Delaney Burroughs had a game-high 27 points and grabbed six rebounds while Olivia Sell added 16 for York. York's starters accounted for 62 of their team's 67 points. Mont Alto, a team that had been playing great defense all season, fell behind early and was unable to overcome 26 turnovers. Dariana Perez led the way with 17 points and Autumn Fischer added 12, but the turnover margin was too much to overcome--York committed just 10. Mont Alto held the rebounding edge (36-30), but York shared the ball much better, picking up 27 assists on 30 made baskets. It was also a fairly clean game, as the teams combined for just 23 fouls, including only seven by Mont Alto in the loss.

WHAT'S NEXT

Semifinal 1: West Division Final

Penn State Beaver at Penn State Shenango, Wednesday, February 26th

These two teams met less than a week ago, closing out the regular season last Friday with a nailbiter. Beaver emerged victorious in that match-up, a 71-67 win. Shenango won the season's earlier game, just 17 days prior, a 97-87 game that saw the top seed shoot much better. Interestingly, Shenango got up 80 shots in their win and 81 in its loss to Beaver. The difference? They shot over 46 percent from the field in the win and just 32 percent in the loss. The Beaver win last Friday also so Shenango struggle from the free throw line as they connected on just 12 of their 29 attempts. 

Both teams will push the pace as they are 1-2 in the league in scoring. Beaver leads the way at nearly 78 points per game while Shenango averages just over 71 per contest. Beaver has made and attempted the most shots on the season, with Shenango sitting in third in each category within the PSUAC. Shenango's defense has been better, allowing fewer than 56 points per game. Beaver allows nearly 69 points per game.

Shar'Da Williamson leads the offense for Shenango at 16.7 points per game. Beaver doesn't have a single player in the top 13 in scoring in the PSUAC, but they do have five players who average more than 10 points. Claudia Siegfried leads the team with 12.2 points per game while also being Beaver's go-to from three-point range. Emery Black and Katie Enderle average nearly 12 and 11 points per game, respectively, while Taylor Woodruff adds 10 and Bailey Rieg averages 10.2 off the bench. Williamson forms a dynamic duo with teammate Hailee Aguinaga for Shenango. Both players average double figures in scoring and more than nine rebounds per game.

Shenango is seeking its first ever championship game appearance, while Beaver tries to repeat and also win its fourth title since 2020.

Semifinal 2: East Division Final

Penn State York at Penn State Schuylkill, Thursday, February 27th

Just like the West Division final, the challengers for the East title split their regular season series. In fact, York handed Schuylkill its only conference loss back all the way back on December 3rd, 2024 in a 69-61 win. Since then, Schuylkill has rattled off 16 straight wins against PSUAC opponents and lost just once overall. York has nearly matched the consistency, losing just twice since December and winning 16 of 17 against PSUAC teams. It's like the match-up was meant to be.

The teams are very similar statistically, with York holding a slim edge in scoring offense and defense. York outscores opponents 67.6-51.2 while Schuylkill scores nearly as many points per game (65.5) while giving up just slightly more (54.9). The teams are the top two scoring defenses in the PSUAC and each are in the top five in scoring. Schuylkill has been the more efficient team from the floor, shooting better than 41 percent from the field, which is tied for the conference lead with Beaver.

Schuylkill's Tajae Stevenson will look to bring her team back to the promised land, two years after delivering the program's first conference title. Stevenson is fourth in the PSUAC in scoring at 18.8 points per game and ninth in rebouding at nine per game. She'll look for support from guard Ava Novak, who averages 12.8 points per game. Novak and teammate Allison Crockett are Schuylkill's main three-point shooters, combingint for nearly 10 attempts and three makes per game. They'll match-up against the league's second leading scorer in Delaney Burroughs at 20.5 points per game. Burroughs and teammate Olivia Sell combine for nearly 27 shot attempts per game for York and thus are the team's leading scorers. Burroughs also takes nearly seven three-point attempts per game.

After their 2023-2024 season was derailed by injuries, Schuylkill has bounced back with a healthy roster. That health and experience has shown over the last two-plus months and could lead them to their second championship game appearance in three seasons. York, on the other hand, is looking for its first conference title in women's basketball since the 2004-2005 season. 

HOW TO WATCH

Both semifinal games will stream live on the PSU Campus Athletics Network. You can watch at www.psucampusathletics.com or by downloading the PSU Campus Athletics Network on your phone, tablet, smart TV or streaming device. 

CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION

The winners of the PSUAC semifinals will advance to the 2025 PSUAC Women's Basketball Championship game slated for Sunday, March 2nd at 3:45 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus. A full championship preview with fan information will be available on Friday, February 28th. The winner of that contest will receive the PSUAC's automatic bid to the USCAA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship scheduled to begin March 9th in Buffalo, NY.