PITTSBURGH, Pa. - February 24, 2023 - Saturday afternoon, Chatham Women's Basketball will appear in its first ever PAC Championship game, visiting the #2 seed Saint Vincent Bearcats at the Robert S. Carey Center at 3:30 PM.

In a season filled with new heights for the program, the #4 seed Cougars will look for a couple more program-firsts: a PAC crown and a trip to the NCAA DIII Tournament. Head coach David Saur and the Cougars have already set new program highs for total wins and PAC wins this season, and they've done so, impressively, without a junior or senior on the roster.

The Cougars and the Bearcats split their two regular season meetings in two close contests, with Saint Vincent winning 65-61 in Pittsburgh and Chatham earning a 64-55 win in Latrobe. In fact, the Cougars win in Latrobe was the Bearcats last loss, and the two teams enter the title game riding matching six-game win streaks.

The Cougars are led in scoring by sophomore guard Ashlie Louden, who has netted 14.3 points per game this season. Louden and first-year guard Hannah Chenault rank first and second in the PAC in made threes this season, with 65 and 57 triples, respectively. Freshman forward Alyssa Laukus has averaged 11.2 points per contest this year and leads the team with 6.0 rebounds per game. Laukus led Chatham with 17 points and seven boards in the team's victory over Saint Vincent this season. Sophomore guard Aurielle Brunner paces the team in assists per game with a rate of 3.3.

The Cougars are coming off arguably the biggest win in program history, with a 57-40 upset over #1 seed W&J in Washington on Wednesday night in which the Cougars defense held the Presidents without a three-pointer (0-23).

Admission is $5 for adults and $2 for students. PAC and institutional passes are not accepted at PAC Championship events. Students from PAC host institutions will be admitted for free with a valid college ID.

The winner of Saturday's PAC's Championship game will receive the league's automatic qualifying bid to this year's Division III Championship Tournament. Forty-four conferences have been granted automatic qualification to this year's 64-team championship. The selected Division III Championship teams as well as the first and second round site selections will be announced Monday, February 27. First and second round games are scheduled for Friday-Saturday, March 3-4.