Former Kittanning star reaches NCAAs with Seton Hill
After practicing on Sunday, Jill Emberg and her basketball teammates at Seton Hill headed to church to pray.
Their request was simple -- please let us make school history.
Then, their prayers were answered when they received an at-large bid to the Big Dance.
In the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time, the Griffins (22-7) learned last night that they're seeded No. 5 in the Atlantic Regional and will open play Friday against No. 4 Fayetteville State (21-9) at Gannon.
Game time is yet to be determined.
Emberg, a junior forward at Seton Hill and Kittanning graduate, said the team -- which also features former Freeport guard Courtney Callas as an assistant coach -- gained confidence by beating perennial power and nationally ranked California (Pa.) University early in the season.
"When we were about to play the game, it was during winter break and hard to focus," Emberg said. "Our coach said that we needed to focus if we wanted to win. Then we went into that gamed and kicked butt."
The Griffins took an 11-point first-half lead and held on to top the No. 7-ranked Vulcans on Dec. 30. Emberg scored eight points in the marquee, confidence-building win the Griffins needed.
Emberg is the tallest player on the team at 6-foot-1. She knows her role and accepts it openly.
"I'm a defender, my job is to get down in the paint and do the dirty work," Emberg said. "It's also important that I can stay in the paint on defense to protect to the rim."
Emberg's defensive abilities helped her earn a starting role in 25 of the team's 28 games. She averages 6.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
Following a four-game winning streak, which included the win over California, Seton Hill dropped four out of five. When it looked like the season would be lost, Emberg said coach Ferne Labati called on her senior leadership to turn things around.
"We have five seniors," Emberg said. "And our coach is harder on the seniors than any of the other players. During the season, the coach pulled the seniors into the office and told them they needed to step up."
Emberg and the Griffins changed after they lost to on Jan. 26 to Lake Erie College. The team responded with 13 consecutive wins.
Seton Hill fell in the second loss of the conference tournament to Shepherd University (W.Va.). Emberg said the loss was disappointing.
"It wasn't that we didn't play with heart," Emberg said. "We just didn't flow well that game. When you go to the conference tournament, you want to win the championship."
Now, Emberg hopes to be a part of the program's first NCAA Tournament win.
"In the summer we all realized that we worked so hard last summer, with conditioning and summer ball," Emberg said. "We felt this is a team that could put it all together."
