PAC Release

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- The Allegheny College women's basketball team placed three on the 2023-24 All-Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Teams, tied for the most in the conference, as announced during the PAC SportsNetwork presentation on Tuesday night.

Allegheny was one of three teams with a trio of All-PAC selections, joining the tournament champions from Chatham University and the regular-season champions from Washington and Jefferson College.

For the second year in a row, Emily Lauer (Knox, Pa./Keystone) was named to the All-PAC First Team. Second-year standouts Jess Bickart (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) and Sarah Santicola (Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area) represented Allegheny on the All-PAC Second Team. 

The second-leading scorer in the conference, Lauer averaged a team-leading 16.7 points per game and was the only Gator to start all 26 games. The junior guard reached double-digit points in all but two contests, including six outings with 20 or more points. She recorded a season-high 27 points in an 84-39 win over Thiel College on November 29. On December 10, she became the 18th player in team history to surpass 1,000 career points as part of a 19-point effort in a victory at Kenyon College. In the regular-season finale against W&J, Lauer poured in 24 points and took sole possession of third-place all-time in career points.

Bickart proved to be one of the most dynamic players in the PAC in her second season as Allegheny's starting point guard. Not only did she lead all players with 132 assists and 5.1 assists per game, but she finished third in steals per game (2.4), fifth in rebounds (8.7), and 10th in points (11.8) per game. Nationally, she ranks 18th in assists and 20th in assists per game. Bickart flirted with triple-double territory on a few occasions; on December 2 at Geneva College, she scored nine points with 10 assists and 15 rebounds, and at home versus the Golden Tornadoes on January 27, she scored 24 points with 22 rebounds, seven assists, and six steals.

Santicola continued to terrorize opposing teams in the paint. Not only is Santicola the first Gator to finish with double-digit rebounds in a season in more than two decades, but she is the first Allegheny player to average a double-double for an entire season since Stephanie Pollack did so in 2000-01. Santicola paced the PAC with 11.7 boards per game and was eighth in scoring with 12.3 points per contest. Standing at 6-foot-2 with a mile-wide wingspan, she was second in the PAC in blocks (80) and blocks per game (3.1). Among all Division III players, Santicola was sixth in blocks, eighth in blocks per game, 15th in rebounds, 17th in rebounds per game, and 18th in double-doubles (15). 

In addition to Allegheny's three All-PAC selections, senior Branygan Bianchin (Wexford, Pa./North Catholic) was included on the PAC Sportsmanship Team. The PAC Sportsmanship Teams were established to recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior, and are an ongoing effort to recognize and encourage positive sportsmanship among all PAC teams and student-athletes.

2023-24 All-PAC Women's Basketball Award Winners
Player of the Year: Meghan Dryburgh, Washington & Jefferson
Defensive Player of the Year: Aurielle Brunner, Chatham
Newcomer of the Year: Jaden Wan, Washington & Jefferson
Coach of the Year: Jina DeRubbo, Washington & Jefferson
 

All-PAC First Team
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Emily Lauer	Allegheny	G	Jr.	Knox, Pa./Keystone
Lindsey Garrison	Bethany	G	Jr.	Triadelphia, W.Va./Wheeling Park
Ashlie Louden	Chatham	G	Jr.	Beallsville, Ohio/Beallsville
Mia San Nicolas	Geneva	F	Sr.	Sinajana, Guam/Academy of Our Lady of Guam
Meghan Dryburgh	W&J	G/F	Jr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin

 

All-PAC Second Team
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Jess Bickart	Allegheny	G	Sr.	Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley
Sarah Santicola	Allegheny	F	So.	Moon Township, Pa./Moon Area
Emily Cavacini	Saint Vincent	G	Sr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler
Stellanie Loutsion	W&J	G	So.	Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan
Natalie Murrio	Westminster	G	Grad.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Brentwood

 

All-PAC Honorable Mention
Name	School	Pos.	Yr.	Hometown/High School
Makenzee Mason	Bethany	G	Sr.	Lithopolis, Ohio/Bloom-Carroll
Aurielle Brunner	Chatham	G	Jr.	Altoona, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle
Alyssa Laukus	Chatham	F	So.	Irwin, Pa./Norwin
Taylor Milroy	Geneva	G	Jr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Eden Christian Academy
Kat Goetz	Grove City	F	Sr.	Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth
Emily Thompson	Saint Vincent	G/F	Jr.	Erie, Pa./Mercyhurst Prep
Adalynn Cherry	W&J	G	Jr.	Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area