College notebook: Kotchman making mark, shots at Fairmont State
It didn’t take Sierra Kotchman long to make an impact on the Fairmont State women’s basketball program.
A freshman guard from Washington and a Trinity graduate, Kotchman has been Fairmont State’s leading scorer in each of its past four games and is the Falcons’ leading scorer for the season.
Kotchman, who was the Observer-Reporter’s Girls Basketball Player of the Year last season and helped Trinity become the first girls team from Washington County to advance to the state finals, averages 17.1 points per game, which ranks sixth in the Mountain East Conference. She has scored in double figures in each of the last seven Falcons games and scored at least 20 in three of the past four.
Kotchman scored a career-high 24 points in Fairmont State’s 92-84 loss at West Virginia State Nov. 20. She made 10 of 18 shots in that game and was 4-for-8 from three-point range. Nine days later, she scored 23 points at Glenville State and matched her career high Saturday by scoring 24 points in a home game against West Virginia Wesleyan. Kotchman made 10 of 21 shots, including four of seven three-pointers, in that game.
In Fairmont State’s 55-53 home win Wednesday night over Wheeling Jesuit, Kotchman scored a game-high 14 points.
Kotchman is shooting 43 percent on the season and 40 percent from three-point range, which ranks fifth in the conference.
Kotchman also is second on the team with 21 assists and she has made 18 of 20 free throws (90 percent).
In wrestling
After posting a perfect day on the mats Nov. 18, Waynesburg freshman Josh Kuslock was named Presidents’ Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week for Nov. 12-18.
Kuslock, a Hickory native and Chartiers-Houston graduate, went 4-0 at the Mount Union Duals. He pinned his first opponent in 4:36 and followed that with a 16-1 technical fall against Greensboro. Kuslock then bumped up to 141 pounds and scored a 9-7 victory against Heidelberg. He went back down to 133 pounds to score a 7-3 decision against Mount Union.
Kuslock was a state qualifier, section champion and WPIAL runner-up while at Chartiers-Houston and placed third at PIAA Class AA Southwest Regional Championships. He has a 9-4 record for Waynesburg.
Stanford senior Connor Schram, a Canonsburg native and former PIAA champion at Canon-McMillan, placed sixth last weekend at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Schram, who is ranked No. 11 in the nation at 125 pounds, finished the tournament with a 3-2 record and improved to 9-3 on the season. He fell 4-1 in the second tiebreaker to No. 16 Taylor LaMont of Utah Valley in the semifinals. After dropping a tough 6-4 sudden victory decision to No. 18 Drew Martin of Michigan, Schram had to medically forfeit the fifth-place match to take sixth.
In soccer
Erin James, a freshman midfielder from Houston and a Chartiers-Houston graduate, was the third-leading scorer this season for Illinois Tech.
James started all 19 games for the Redhawks, scoring six goals and assisting on six others for 18 points. James had two goals in Illinois Tech’s 4-1 victory over North Park Oct. 16.
James was named to the Association of Division III Independents first team.
La Roche’s Marissa Johnson, a junior defender from Charleroi, was named to the All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference second team. Johnson had a terrific season, scoring three goals including two game-winners in conference play. Her three goals were the most by a La Roche defender in more than a decade.
In basketball
Seton Hill freshman guard Cheyenne Trest is making the PSAC West Division Freshman of the Week award all her own.
Trest, a Canon-McMillan graduate, has won the award in each of the past four weeks.
Last weekend, Trest averaged 13.5 points and five rebounds in the two PSAC games against East Division opponents. She scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds in a loss at East Stroudsburg. Then, Trest contributed 13 points and three rebounds in a win Sunday at West Chester.
On the season, Trest is the second-leading scorer for the Griffins, averaging 14.4 points per game. She is shooting 44 percent from the field and 77 percent from the free-throw line. She also averages 3.9 assists per game. Trest is third in the PSAC in assist-to-turnover ratio, fifth in assists per game and 16th in scoring.
Freshman forward Prince Oduro, who played last season for First Love Christian Academy in Washington, has cracked the starting lineup at Siena and is the third-leading scorer for the Saints.
The 6-8 Oduro is averaging 9.4 points and team-best 5.5 rebounds per game.
Oduro had team-highs of 17 points and eight rebounds in Siena’s 85-76 victory over Hofstra Nov. 25 and had 14 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots Saturday in a 76-74 victory over Robert Morris
Elijah Minnie of Monessen has transferred from Robert Morris to Eastern Michigan. A 6-9 redshirt junior forward, Minnie is the Eagles leading scorer at 17.9 points per game.
Minnie has scored at least 20 points in five of Eastern Michigan’s eight games and has a season-high 27 points, on 10 of 14 shooting, against Michigan-Dearborn. He is EMU’s second-leading rebounder at 7.3 per game and his 12 blocked shots is tied for the team lead.
Youngstown State sophomore Mary Dunn, a Trinity graduate, scored a season-high 23 points in the Penguins’ 86-59 victory over Ohio Valley Nov. 20.
Dunn is averaging 6.1 points per game and 3.4 rebounds for the Penguins. Dunn is shooting 54 percent from the field.
Former Ringgold standout Marlena Schmidt has transferred from West Virginia to Southeastern, an NAIA school in Lakeland, Fla. Schmidt, a sophomore forward from Eighty Four, has started all 11 games for the undefeated Saints and is averaging 7.9 points per game and is the team’s leading rebounder at 5.8 per contest.
Schmidt had a 15-point, nine-rebound, three-block game in Southeastern’s 101-72 victory over Indiana University East at the NAIA Division II Showcase in Kingsport, Tenn.
Southeastern is ranked No. 3 in the NAIA Top 25.
In football
Anthony Davidson, a junior defensive lineman from Cuddy and a South Fayette graduate, was a key member of the Johns Hopkins team that won the Centennial Conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Division III playoffs.
Davidson played in nine games for the Blue Jays and made 20 tackles, including 6½ behind the line of scrimmage. He was credited with 4½ sacks, which ranked second on the team. He also forced four fumbles and recovered one.
John Hopkins finished with a 9-2 record and lost to Washington & Jefferson, 31-28, in the first round of the Division III playoffs.
Penn senior wide receiver Justin Watson, a South Fayette graduate, is one of 13 finalists for the STATS FCS Doris Robinson Award, which is presented annually to an FCS Student-Athlete who excels not only in the classroom, but in the community and beyond.
Named after Doris Robinson, the wife of legendary Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson, this award was first presented in 2015 and is part of the FCS Awards Banquet and Presentation Jan. 5 in Frisco, Texas. The winner will be announced Monday.
Penn’s all-time leader in receptions (286), receiving yards (3,777), receiving touchdowns (33) and all-purpose yards (4,116), Watson capped his career with a season perhaps more valuable to his team than his two previous All-American campaigns. Watson set an Ivy League record with a touchdown catch in all 10 games. He had at least one reception in all 10 games and is the first player in Ivy League with at least one reception in all 40 career games. Watson also set the Ivy League record for career 100-yard games with 19.