Things have gone well for the La Roche University men’s and women’s basketball teams in 2023.
The Redhawks men have won 15 of 16 contests since the calendar turned over Jan. 1, while the women have been riding a 17-game winning streak that actually dates back to Dec. 30.
Both teams, winners of their respective Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championships, will be looking to capitalize on that momentum when they open play in the NCAA Division III tournament Friday.
“The ceiling with this team is so high,” said Kam Gissendanner, La Roche women’s basketball coach. “The thing about March is the fact that you’ve got to be hot. This tournament goes to the hottest team, and we are on a 17-game winning streak … which is unheard of.”
The La Roche women (20-7, 14-0 AMCC) open the NCAA tournament at Ithaca (23-4, 17-1 Liberty Conference), which lost in its conference championship game. The Redhawks men (20-7, 13-1 AMCC) will travel to face Stockton (22-5, 15-3 New Jersey Athletic Conference), which also lost in its conference tournament title game.
Gissendanner, in her 10th season at La Roche, and Redhawks men’s coach Hermie Carmichael, now in his 11th season at the private McCandless university, will be looking to win their first career NCAA tournament games.
“Both of us try to do things the right way,” said Carmichael of the approach he and Gissendanner employ. “I think that helps a lot when it comes to recruiting. We have a lot of fun. We also work our [players] really, really hard. I think when people come in and watch us play they enjoy the style of play we have.
“Our goal at the beginning of the year,” he added, “was not just to be another La Roche team that makes the NCAA tournament.”
Both teams enter national postseason play with a bevy of conference accolades in tow.
Gissendanner and Carmichael were both named AMCC coaches of the year, while the conference women’s and men’s player of the year awards went to La Roche’s Danajah Sanders and Devon Darrell, both senior guards.
La Roche women’s team senior guard Machia Hairston, an Obama Academy graduate, was named first-team all-conference, while sophomore guard/forward Makayla Abram earned second-team all-conference accolades.
“It’s March and for you to make this tournament you have to be pretty elite,” Gissendanner said. “I feel like we can stack up against anybody at this point. We’ve been going at it since October, and this is finally a reward for all your hard work.”
Chartiers Valley graduate Joe Pipilo, a junior guard/forward, was named all-conference second team for the men’s squad, while McKeesport product Jordan Grayson, a senior guard/forward, was named all-conference third team.
“Every year when you get this far you have different reasons,” Carmichael said. “I think this team has grown the most and developed the most out of any of our teams in the course of one year. We can be really, really good when we put it all together.”
Darrell, a Lockport, N.Y., native, averages a team-high 20.3 points per game, while Pipilo scores 12.7 points and Grayson adds 10.8 per contest.
A trio of seniors in the Stockton backcourt has caused problems for its competition this season. DJ Campbell leads Stockton by scoring 18 points per game, while Kyion Flanders scores 11.6 points and Kadian Dawkins adds 11.4 points per contest.
If La Roche is able to shoot at a high percentage and win the rebounding battle against Stockton, the Redhawks should have a good chance at advancing this weekend, Carmichael said.
“I think it’s a decent draw for us,” he said. “Usually when we play teams out of conference they are really, really big compared to us. They look like they match up pretty well with us. It’s still going to be tough going into their place as the host, but we’re just excited for the opportunity.”
For the La Roche women’s team, the key against Ithaca will be to remain balanced on offense.
Sanders, a Cleveland native, averages 15.9 points per game and leads the offense alongside Hairston, who averages 15.6 points, and Abram, who adds 13.9 points per outing.
Senior forward Emily Dorn, who averages 10.8 points per game, paces Ithaca offensively.
“We have a bunch of different weapons in our arsenal and I’m happy with how balanced we are as well,” Gissendanner said. “You can’t just key on one player. We have a Danajah Sanders, who is averaging 16 points a game and whatever, but you can’t just key in on her because somebody else is going to make you pay.”
And Gissendanner believes that’s a recipe for success moving forward this month.
“We are just hungry and yearning for that first NCAA tournament win, so I’m going to rally them up and pump them up and do whatever needs to be done to make sure they believe they can get this done,” she said.
Other AMCC all-conference selections
Penn State-Behrend freshman guard Madilyn Boyer, a Knoch graduate, was named first-team all-conference.
Baldwin product Morgan Altavilla, also a freshman guard at Penn State-Behrend, was named second-team all-conference, along with Pitt-Greensburg sophomore guard Melina Maietta, a Greensburg Central Catholic graduate, and Penn State-Altoona freshman forward Avana Sayles, who is a native of Peters Township.
Penn State-Altoona freshman guard Jess Burns, a South Fayette product, was named to the all-conference third team.
Bethel Park native Tommy DiRienzo, a junior guard at Penn State-Behrend, was named second-team all-conference, and Seneca Valley product Mason Bush, a junior forward at Penn State-Altoona, was named all-conference third team.
NCAA Division III tournament qualifiers
The Chatham University men’s team (17-11, 13-7 Presidents’ Athletic Conference) won its conference tournament and will face St. Joseph’s, Conn., (27-1, 18-0 Great Northeast Athletic Conference) in a first-round game.
The Saint Vincent women’s team (22-4, 17-3 PAC) earned its conference automatic bid and will face SUNY Courtland (23-4, 16-2 State University of New York Athletic Conference) in the first round.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.