State College was able to put the clamps on the taller Oakland Catholic interior players but the Eagles' perimeter players responded with 46 points to achieve a 63-55 victory in the PIAA semifinals.
Senior Meg Bulger, a 5-11 guard, led the Eagles with 19 points. Sophomore Brianne O'Rourke, a 5-6 guard, provided 15 points with nine-in-a-row coming in the opening minutes when she made three straight from behind the arc.
"Oakland Catholic shot the lights out, 67% in the first half," State College coach Bethany Irwin said. "I think they did an outstanding job."
Oakland Catholic coach Suzie McConnell-Serio admitted her team had been successful going inside against State College in the past but said she knew they would make some adjustments.
"Our goal was to shut the inside play down because that's what was killing us every time we played them," State College coach Bethany Irwin said.
The shorter State College interior players did deny the Eagles easy buckets limiting 6-1 sophomore Eve Pyle to four points and 6-0 senior Christiana Lackner to six points. Pyle had been particularly effective in the past scoring 26 points against State College in January.
The shooting prowess of the Eagle guards then became a different problem for State College. "Brianne really got us going," Serio said of O'Rourke who even made a four-point play when she was fouled on a three in the second quarter.
The Eagle lead was 19-14 at the end of the first quarter and stood at 37-30 by halftime. Sarah Bucar, a 5-7 guard, had a three at the end of the first period adding four more points in the opening minute of the second quarter to keep the Eagles in control.
The Lions came within two points twice (12-10 and 16-14) in the first period then had an uphill battle when they fell behind by 11 (37-26) in the second stanza. Two free throws by Suzy Carlson and a putback by freshman Kelsey Ream narrowed the margin to seven points (37-30) by halftime.
A State College run of nine straight points in the third quarter began with a deuce by Nicole Scipione, Liz Gabrielle's steal and layup, another Scipione basket and a three by Sarah O'Shea. With 3:31 left in the third period State College only trailed by two (41-39).
The Eagles then got a bucket from freshman guard Aysha Jones and another from Bulger but Carlson made three of four from the line and the quarter ended with Oakland Catholic up 45-42.
Bulger opened the fourth period with another basket and Bucar got a trey to stretch the lead to 50-44. "When we needed it, there was always a big basket or a big rebound," Serio said.
While Stupar was able to offer three points and Gabrielle and Carlson combined to make four free throws, Bulger was adding a deuce and converting a 3-point play to keep her team ahead 55-49 with 2:13 remaining.
Stupar had another bucket to narrow the margin to four at 57-53 with 1:33 remaining but the Eagles made six straight at the line, including four by Bulger, to preserve their lead.
"I'm just really thrilled with this season," Irwin said. "I think that the kids played hard."
Irwin loses Carlson, Scipione and Gabrielle from her starting lineup and Katie Pierce from the squad. Stupar and O'Shea are the starters returning along with a number of younger players who were part of the junior varsity team's 21-0 season.