Jan 3, 2014 3 min read

Two of the most dominating programs in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference collide today at Henry Memorial Center.

The women’s programs from Washington & Jefferson and Thomas More will battle in a key PAC matchup. Thomas More (2007-2013) and W&J (2006) have combined to win the last eight PAC women’s basketball titles and 12 of the 29 in conference’s history.

The women’s game begins at 3 p.m. and the men’s at 1 p.m.

The Thomas More women’s team is ranked sixth in the country and brings a 10-0 record, including a 3-0 mark in the PAC, into the game.

The Saints have one of the top players in NCAA Division III in sophomore Sydney Moss, a transfer from the University of Florida and the daughter of former NFL wide receiver Randy Moss. Sydney Moss has averaged 24.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists in her first 10 games with the Saints.

Moss, the 2012 Kentucky “Miss Basketball”, was named to the All-SEC Freshman Team after starting 24 times for the Gators. She averaged 19.6 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists during Florida’s semifinal run in last year’s WNIT.

Thomas More has dominated this season, winning every game but its opener – an 85-76 victory against Wittenberg – by 17 or more points. In the PAC, the Saints’ average margin of victory is 43.0 points as they have scored at least 88 points in all three league contests.

W&J (2-1 PAC, 7-3) has won three in a row and seven of its last eight. The Presidents knocked off Anderson (Ind.) 71-44 and host Lehman, 89-62, over the holiday break to capture the Cancer vs. Coaches Classic in Brooklyn, N.Y. Senior forward Chelsea Apke earned her second tournament MVP honor of the year after averaging 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds. Sophomore forward Beka Bellhy, a Fort Cherry graduate, was selected to her second all-tournament team of the season after adding 21 points and 14 rebounds during the tournament.

This game features the top three PAC scorers in Moss, Apke and Bellhy (16.6 ppg). Thomas More’s Devin Beasley leads the conference in assists (6.7 apg), and W&J senior Kara Seamon is second at 4.5.

In the men’s matchup, W&J (2-1 PAC, 6-5) is coming off a two-game losing streak in Virginia at the Luck Stone Holiday Classic. The Presidents fell to Old Dominion Athletic Conference members, Hampden-Sydney, 78-65, and Lynchburg, 78-58. Junior forward Nate Bellhy, a Fort Cherry graduate, was named to the All-Classic team after averaging 17.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals.

Thomas More is 2-9, including 1-1 in the PAC, and have lost five straight games. The last win was 88-63 over Waynesburg Dec. 7.

The Presidents and Saints are meeting for the 24th time in history with Thomas More leading by a 13-10 margin. The Saints have won four of the last five games in the series, including a 90-80 triumph last year at the Henry Memorial Center.

W&J entered the tournament in Virginia after an exciting 79-73 double-overtime home victory over a then 8-1 Juniata squad on Dec. 16. Junior guard Mike Resnik drained a game-tying, three-point play in the final seconds of regulation then a long three-pointer in the last second of overtime to force oveffrtime. Resnik is one of four Presidents averaging double figures at 10.0 points per game.