Sarah Liberatore decided to make the move from a Division I program to one playing in Division II.
It looks like it was the right move for the former Hempfield standout.
Liberatore had a career game last week for Florida Tech, a D-II school in Melbourne, Fla.
A sophomore guard, she poured in 28 points in an 81-68 victory over Emery-Riddle.
She added five rebounds and was 5 for 5 from behind the 3-point arc. She finished 10 of 13 from the field in 38 minutes.
Not bad, especially when you consider she had 41 points all of last season at Marshall.
For the season, Liberatore is averaging 9.2 points in 22 minutes a game. She has started seven of 13 games for Florida Tech (3-10).
Women’s basketball
Illinois-Springfield: Freshman Brianna Zajicek (Norwin) scored a season-high 24 points, on 11-of-17 shooting, and grabbed four rebounds in a 72-65 loss to Southwest Baptist.
Marietta: Junior guard Olivia Gribble (Norwin) had a team-high 11 points in 25 minutes in a 61-42 victory over Mount Union.
She added 17 points, including five 3-pointers, in a 60-39 victory over Heidelberg as Marietta improved to 11-4.
Saint Vincent: The Bearcats ran their winning streak to seven with an 88-63 victory over Geneva as junior guard Emily Cavacini scored a career-high 30 points, including four 3-pointers, to go with eight rebounds.
Senior Ella Marconi added 19 points, junior Lizzie Bender had 18 and sophomore Emily Thompson chipped in 11.
Marconi grabbed 14 rebounds and made 11 of 15 free throws, and Bender pulled down 13 rebounds.
SVC had 69 rebounds in the win.
Seton Hill: The Griffins will welcome back former greats and alumni from a century of basketball.
Seton Hill is celebrating 100 years of its program.
A Centennial Celebration will be Feb. 1 when the Griffins take on IUP at 5:30 p.m. There will be a pregame reception, former players and teams will be recognized at halftime, and a postgame reception will serve as a meet-and-greet with coaches and players.
The Griffins held off Slippery Rock last week, 76-58, to improve to 11-6 overall and 4-4 in the PSAC as junior guard Christiane Frye scored a career-high 23 points.
They followed with an 83-77 victory over Edinboro as Helene Cowan had 22 points and Hallie Cowan added 21, including four 3-pointers.
Seto added 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Men’s basketball
Chatham: Junior Geoff Helm (Greensburg Central Catholic) had a season-high 18 points, five rebounds and five assists to help power the Cougars past Franciscan, 110-76.
A transfer from Shippensburg, Helm has played in seven games this season and is averaging 6.3 points and 2.4 rebounds.
Pitt: Senior reserve forward Aidan Fisch (Franklin Regional), who made the team as a walk-on a couple of years ago, has appeared in six games for the much-improved Panthers (12-6, 5-2 ACC).
He has played 11 minutes and scored against Farleigh Dickinson.
Pitt-Greensburg: Junior Octavius Hardy had 13 points, senior JoJo France added 12 and six assists, and senior Jaylen Willliams chipped in 11 as the Bobcats held back visiting Penn State Behrend — coach Chris Klimchock’s former team — 66-63.
Saint Vincent: Mid-year transfer Mike Iuzzolino has joined the Bearcats and is making fast progress.
Iuzzolino, the son of former NBA guard Mike Iuzzolino, a former assistant coach at Saint Vincent and current assistant at Robert Morris, scored in double figures in four of his five games with the team.
He had 17 in his debut when he started in a 72-70 loss to McDaniel.
He added a team-high 22 points in a 96-78 lossto Thiel, then went for 17 in a 73-53 win over Franciscan.
In the most recent win, 72-60 over Geneva, he had 15, joining Osyon Jones (20) and Shemar Bennett (19) in double digits for the Bearcats (9-7, 5-6).
Seton Hill: Four players scored in double figures as the Griffins downed Slippery Rock, 84-77. Junior Sean Dillon (20), senior Samuel Tabe (19), senior Drew Green (13) and senior Jimmy Moon (12) led the way for Seton Hill, which connected on 12 3-pointers.
In an 87-77 win over Edinboro — a win that snapped a 21-game road losing streak — Dillon scored 25, Green 15 and Tabe 16, with 10 rebounds.
The Griffins have nine wins (9-6). They won seven times combined over the last two seasons.
West Liberty: Junior standout Bryce Butler (Latrobe) was named the Mountain East Conference Player of the Week after he averaged 22.5 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists over two wins for the Hilltoppers.
He had 21 points, nine rebounds and five steals against Concord, and added 24 points and seven rebounds against Glenville State.
Wrestling
Army: Freshman Ethan Berginc (Hempfield/Jeannette) picked up another pin in a 52-0 win over Queens, N.Y., then followed with an 11-4 decision as Army toppled Gardner-Webb, 20-15.
Bucknell: Junior 133-pounder Kurt Phipps (Norwin) picked up a 5-3 decision as the Bison took seven of 10 bouts to defeat American, 28-10.
Iowa: Top-ranked 125-pounder Spencer Lee (Franklin Regional) scored a first-period fall as the No. 2 Hawkeyes took care of No. 11 Northwestern, 27-9.
Lee is 8-0 this season with all of his wins involving bonus points.
Thiel: Junior Frank Gill (Norwin) recorded a pin in 2 minutes, 23 seconds as the Tomcats defeated John Fisher, 26-21.
He added another, in 3:26, in a 31-17 victory over Pitt-Bradford.
Football
Seton Hill: Senior linebacker Jaylen McDuffie and senior offensive lineman Daniel Morales were named to the Don Hansen Division II All-American teams.
McDuffie was a first-team selection, while Morales was an honorable mention.
McDuffie, the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, also was a D2CCA All-American and a D2Football.com Elite 100 selection, and was a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award.
Western Michigan: Grad transfer Gio Vonne Sanders (Jeannette), who just completed his final season of college football, announced he is applying to the NFL Draft.
Sanders, who played previously at St. Francis (Pa.), is a 5-foot-11, 185-pound defensive back. He appeared in nine games this past season.
At SFU, where he played two years, he had 106 tackles, 5.5 for loss, and four interceptions.
He had one year of college eligibility remaining.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill by email at bbeckner@triblive.com or via Twitter .
