Feb 13, 2015 By Eleanor Bailey 3 min read

To beat Shaler in the first-round of the WPIAL Quad-A girls’ basketball playoffs, Upper St. Clair had one option. Shoot well. The Lady Panthers didn’t. As a result, they suffered a 63-38 defeat and ended their season at 13-10 overall.

“Before the game, I said, ‘if we don’t make shots, then we’ll be in trouble’ and we did not make shots,” said USC head coach Pete Serio. “We couldn’t put the ball in the hoop. We need to shoot well in order to be successful.”

The Lady Panthers shot so poorly, they failed to score a point in the second stanza. And, after Rachel Mazzie and Diandra Conwell opened the second half by burying 3-point field goals, USC went on another eight-minute dry spell without a field goal. From 6:08 in the third quarter to 6:26 when Madison Serio sank a 3-pointer in the final frame, the Panthers managed just four points, all on free throws.

In the interim, Gia Thorpe went wild. The freshman, whose brother, Geno, is a sophomore guard at Penn State, scored 15 of her game-high 26 points in the third quarter as Shaler’s lead swelled to 38-17. Thorpe’s 3-point play with 4:50 left in the game afforded the Titans their biggest advantage, 59-25.

“Thorpe played excellent,” said Serio. “She had an unbelievable game.”

Andi Lydon and Liz Kline had good games, too. Both scored in double figures for the Titans, finishing with 12 and 10 tallies respectively.

By effectively enforcing a zone defense, Shaler thwarted USC. The Panthers were limited to one shot as well because the Titans held a distinct height advantage.

“They are long and big and we have not seen a zone like that all year,” Serio explained. “We knew it was coming. We prepared for it but it’s hard to simulate what they do with our younger kids but we tried.

“Credit Shaler,” continued Serio. “They played well.”

Ally Steve played well enough to vault USC into an early lead, 7-4. With 3:20 to go in the first, the junior knocked down her second 3-pointer. She added another later and finished with a team-high 11 points.

Serio followed with 10 tallies. She knocked down a pair of long-range field goals and two free throws in the final frame. Mazzie finished with eight markers before fouling out of the contest.

Late in the first frame, things took a turn for the worst for the Lady Panthers With Shaler clinging to an 11-9, USC had an opportunity to tie the contest but turned the ball over. The steal ignited a 15-point run that resulted in the Titan’s 26-9 halftime advantage by halftime.

With the win, Shaler improved to 19-4 overall. The Titans advanced to face No. 3 Norwin (18-4) in a quarterfinal contest set for Feb. 20 at a site and time to be determined. (18-4).

Meanwhile, USC wrapped up its season. The Lady Panthers finished 13-10 overall.

USC loses four starters from its line-up: Mazzie, Serio, Conwell and Sarah McMurtry. The Panthers also graduate Katie White and Olivia Hutton.