SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University women's basketball team survived a late charge from archrival Millersville on Tuesday night to emerge victorious in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Quarterfinal contest over the Marauders, 58-56, from Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (21-6) advances to the PSAC Semifinals for the first time since the 2003-04 season and will face defending national champion California (Pa.), the host of the remaining tournament games, at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
 
The Raiders held an eight-point lead through three quarters and led by 10 points with 8:20 remaining, but Millersville (19-9) eventually got the score to within one possession at the 4:31 mark of regulation. The Marauders scored nine of their 20 fourth-quarter points off SU turnovers to get back into the game.
 
The visitors got within two points of the lead with 23 seconds remaining, but junior Lauren Gold sank a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game. Millersville then missed a three-pointer, and would eventually hit a lay-up as time expired to create the game's final two-point margin.
 
Shippensburg held a 26-20 halftime lead despite shooting just 24 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes. The Raider defense stymied the Marauders throughout the night, as Shippensburg improved to 12-0 on the season when holding its opponent under 60 points.
 
SU shot 52 percent from the field in the second half, as Gold and junior Morgan Griffith shouldered much of the scoring load for the Raiders on the night. Gold scored 17 points, going 4-for-5 from the field, and making 3-of-3 three-point attempts in the first half. She was also 6-of-6 at the free-throw line, grabbed four rebounds and had three assists.
 
Griffith contributed her 16th double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds. She got to the free-throw line 10 times, making eight attempts. Junior Colleen Young had nine points and five rebounds, while junior Haley Scullion remained efficient with five points, three rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block without a turnover in 32 minutes.
 
Shippensburg reached 21 wins on the year, marking its most victories in 15 seasons (2000-01). Head coach Kristy Trn '93/'94M is now two victories shy of 300 in her coaching career.
 
The win allowed the Raiders to snap a skid of six consecutive losses in PSAC quarterfinal contests.
 
With the SU men's basketball team winning Tuesday night at Kutztown, the 2015-16 season marks the first ever at Shippensburg in which both basketball teams have reached the semifinals of the PSAC Tournament.
 
Additional information about this weekend's PSAC Tournament will be available in the coming days on shipraiders.com.