Box Score

Montgomery, AL -- The Piedmont College women's basketball team is the 2010-11 Great South Athletic Conference Tournament Champions after claiming a 69-44 win over Agnes Scott College in the championship game earlier today. The Lady Lions battled with a fierce Scotties squad who was fresh off an upset of top seed Maryville but it was Piedmont's day in Roland Arena as the team grabbed the program's fourth overall GSAC championship and a berth in the NCAA National Tournament.

In the first half of today's title game, the tempo couldn't have been faster as each team worked to get the championship jitters out of their system. With the score tabbed at nine each with just over eight minutes played, a beautiful back door cut from Jordan Gustavel led to a PC 11-9 lead as Shanice Wheeler found the streaking freshman from Gainesville behind the Scotties defense.

As the Scotties came right back to tie the ball game at 11, the Lady Lions began to push the pace of the contest getting several key buckets down low from two-time All-Conference selection Sada Wheeler who was just a single point shy of scoring in double figures by halftime. Piedmont used solid defensive play down the stretch to hold ASC to just 11 more points in the half as the Lady Lions carried a 31-22 margin into the locker room.

When the two teams came out for the second half of action, the Scotties showed the metal that led them all the way to the GSAC championship game getting right back in the thick of the action with a 7-0 run that put the score at 31-29 PC. However, this was to be the day of the Lady Lions as Piedmont held off the Scotties with 38 second half points of their own.

Piedmont used their pressure defense to force key Agnes Scott turnovers in the second half to open up close to a 20 point lead with just over five minutes to play. With several blocks coming from Gustavel and Wheeler in that second half stranglehold, the Lady Lions would go on to claim the 2010-11 GSAC Tournament Championship and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA National Tournament by virtue of a 25 point victory over the Scotties.

Leading the squad in the scoring column was veteran guard Shanice Wheeler who posted 13 points on 50% shooting from the field. The Kennesaw native also added a trio of assists and a pair of steals to her championship game stat line.

Junior forward Sada Wheeler was near perfect shooting on the day hitting six of her eight field goal tries to post a dozen points to go along with her seven boards. Wheeler's championship performance and a double-double in last night's semifinal win earned the post player the 2010-11 GSAC Tournament MVP honor.

Senior Laura Simmons dropped eight points in the final while pulling down three rebounds to help the Lady Lions to a GSAC title. For the Gainesville native, the 2010-11 crown gives her bookend championships in her career as she was a freshman on the 2007-08 GSAC championship team.

Post player Sydney Seitz reached double-figures in the scoring column tallying ten points while also grabbing six boards. Alyssa Jones led the way at the point with four assists and steals each while junior guard Amber Satterfield scored seven points and led the squad with her eight rebounds.

The victory gives Piedmont a 20 win season putting the Lady Lions at 20-8 overall on the season. PC won three consecutive games in the GSAC tournament to end the year while taking five straight overall games. For her efforts in the GSAC tournament that included a double-double in the semifinal win over LaGrange and a dozen points in today's final, Sada Wheeler was named the 2010-11 GSAC Tournament MVP. The Lady Lions will now await their destination in the NCAA National Tournament to be announced in the beginning of the week.