The U.S. Basketball Writers Association selected 40 women’s college basketball players for its 2023-24 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award and All-America Watch List. Among the names is West Virginia’s JJ Quinerly.
The junior guard has been a fundamental part of No. 25 West Virginia’s season, helping them to a 22-6 overall record and 11-6 in conference play. She’s averaging a team-high 19.6 points per game while also leading in steals with 3.07 — a mark that ranks 10th in the nation. Her 46.0% shooting is top-10 in the Big 12.
Quinerly was one of three Big 12 players named to the list, joining Texas’ Madison Booker and BYU’s Lauren Gustin.
Point Park punches ticket to NAIA Tournament
After missing out last year as an at-large selection, Point Park men’s basketball is going to the NAIA national tournament with an automatic bid. The Pioneers were named River States Conference regular season champions on Saturday.
The RSC utilizes a point system to determine playoff seeding and the regular season champion. At 15-2, Point Park clinched the national bid as the points leader. It’s the first time in 17 years and the sixth time in program history that the Pioneers are heading to the NAIA Tournament.
Point Park will have home court advantage throughout the RSC Championship. The No. 1-seeded Pioneers will host a quarterfinal game on Feb. 28 at 7:00 p.m., facing the winner of No. 9 IU East at No. 8 Rio Grande (Ohio) in the first round on Feb. 26.
The NAIA Championship will begin March 15-16 at campus sites around the country.
Robert Morris women’s hockey concludes season
The Colonials' first season back after a two-year break ended in the CHA semifinals. Robert Morris won the first game in the three-game series, but Mercyhurst won the next two to advance to the finals.
Robert Morris finished the 2023-24 season with a 15-19-1 overall record. The Colonials also had three people named finalists for various Of the Year awards. Maggie Hatch was one of the three names for Goaltender of the Year, Alaina Giampietro is up for Rookie of the Year, and Logan Bittle is up for Coach of the Year.
Redshirt freshman Hatch is fifth in the CHA for goals against, averaging 3.07 a game. She boasted a .922 save percentage this season.
Giampietro is third in the CHA in goals scored with 19 this season, averaging 0.54 a game. Her 31 points this season lead Robert Morris and ranks eighth in the conference.
In the first year back, Bittle coached his team to an 11-8-1 conference record to finish third in the league.
Penn State gymnast named to national team
Nittany Lions men’s gymnast Josh Karnes was named to the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team after his performance at the Winter Cup in Louisville this past weekend.
Karnes ended day one of competition with an all-around score of 77.650 in 15th place. He took second place on the floor with a score of 14.450. In the finals, Karnes scored a 14.200 on the floor to earn him the silver medal. He scored a 14.050 on vault, with a stick bonus to improve his score by almost three points. He finished ninth overall in the all-around with a score of 160.500.
Penn State had three gymnasts compete in the meet, with Matt Cormier and Michael Artlip finishing 11th and 13th in the all-around, respectively. Artlip medaled on the vault after scoring a 13.8000 on day two of competition. His overall vault score of 26.850 earned him the silver medal in the event.
Pitt aquatics in the ACC championships
The Pitt swimming and diving team boasted two new school recovers and crowned a new platform champion during the final day of the ACC Championships this past weekend.
Cameron Cash earned two goal medals this week with his first-place finish on the men’s platform, breaking a school record. He has a total score of 448.95 to break the record Dominic Giordano set in 2015. With his performance this week, Cash was named the Diver of the ACC Championships Meet.
The women’s 400 free relay also shattered a record with their 3:15.92 time to finish seventh overall in the event.
The men’s team placed seventh overall to tie Pitt’s highest team finish with 647 total team points. The women’s team finished tenth for the first time in four years and scored the highest total points (407) since the 2018 ACC Championships.
Abby Schnable: aschnable@post-gazette.com and @AbbySchnable on X
First Published: February 28, 2024, 8:44 p.m.
