Injuries Force Lady Wildcats to End Basketball Season With Forfeit Loss

The Pennsylvania College of Technology women's basketball team saw its season end before it ever got to take to the court against Penn State York in the first round of the Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference playoffs Tuesday.

"We ran out of players. Two girls are injured and there's no way we can play. It's a shame, but there's nothing we can do about it," coach Ron Kodish said. "It's kind of an empty feeling at the end. If it ends, you want to have it end on the court."

As a result of the 2-0 forfeit loss, the Wildcats finish their season with an 18-9 overall record.

Despite the unfortunate finish, Penn College made great strides under Kodish, who is in his fourth season overall, but first after a five-year absence.

"We've exceeded my hopes for the season. I wanted to field a competitive team in the conference and we became more than that," Kodish said. "When you look at our roster, we have the potential to bring all the players back next year . . . and it bodes well for the future."

Penn College reached playoffs in both the CCAC and Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference.

Katlyn Stupar (State College) led the team in scoring with 526 points, a 30.9 points-per-game average, while Brittany Blessard (Bucktail) scored 297 points in just half a season (21.2 average) and Natalie Plavi (Elderton) scored 295 (12.3 average). In games played, the Wildcats averaged 67.5 points on offense, a considerable improvement over last year's 38.5 offensive average, and allowed 53.7 on defense, nearly 10 points a game fewer than last year's 2-22 team gave up.