NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – Courtney Zitt's 40-foot three-point basket as time expired lifted Westminster College to a 59-58 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) victory over visiting Thiel College Saturday afternoon at Buzz Ridl Gymnasium in New Wilmington.

Zitt finished with a team-high 15 points and nine rebounds with Gabby Holko as the only other Titan in double figures with 10. Danielle Gilmore and Sam Higgins each finished with seven, respectively.

Thiel had three starters finish in double figures; Ashley Davis (Cleveland, Ohio, St. Peter Chanel) contributed a game-high 16 points to go along with seven rebounds while Rianne Thornton (Trotwood, Ohio, Trotwood-Madison) added 12 points, six rebounds, and three steals. Kelly Barzak (Warren, Ohio, Howland) managed to tally 11 points despite shooting just 4-of-10 from the floor, and also chipped in with five rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.

Thiel (5-18, 3-11) finished the game shooting 44.0 percent (22-50) from the field but capitalized on just 12-of-20 (60.0%) trips to the charity stripe. Westminster (6-17, 2-13) collected a 37-33 advantage in rebounding while shooting just 36.4 percent (20-55) from the floor.

The Tomcats carried the lead throughout most of the second half of action, going up by as many as five (46-41) thanks to a Davis jumper with just less than nine minutes to play. Zitt knocked down a pair of free throws with 1:44 remaining to tie the game at 54-54 just before Davis' jumper at the 1:24 mark gave the Tomcats a 56-54 advantage. A pair of Emily Dolsak free throws with five seconds remaining tied the game at 56-56, and a Titan foul on the inbounds pass with three seconds remaining put Nina Gabrelcik (Niles, Ohio, Niles McKinley) on the line to shoot the free throws for Thornton, who was helped off of the court after the foul. Gabrelcik converted on each of the free throws and the visiting Tomcats held a brief 58-56 lead until the Zitt game-winner.

The opening half proved to be a back-and-forth affair with eight lead changes. Thiel shot 40 percent (10-25) from the field, but managed just 7-of-13 (53.8%) shooting from the free throw line. Westminster finished the first shooting 45.5 percent (10-22) and converted on 7-of-11 (63.6%) of their free throw attempts while holding an 18-15 edge on the glass.

With Westminster trailing 17-15 with seven minutes remaining in the first Zitt knocked down a pair of free throws followed by a three-pointer at the 6:29 mark that pushed the Titans ahead 19-17.A Bethany Hines (Youngstown, Ohio, Youngstown Early College) three-pointer with just over five to play allowed the Tomcats to take a brief 20-19 lead before Holko's three with 4:36 to go gave the home team a 22-20 advantage. Chelsea Meister (Liberty Center, Ohio, Liberty Center ) three with 2:22 remaining tied the game at 26-26 and a pair of Barzak free throws allowed Thiel to assume a 28-26 lead with just under a minute remaining. Emily Dolsak drilled a pair of free throws with just over a half-minute to play to tie the game at 28-28, and a Sam Higgins' layup with 18 seconds to play had the Titans up 30-28. Thornton split a pair of free throws with seven seconds to go as the Tomcats went into the break trailing 30-29.

The Thiel women will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 16 when they travel to the nation's number one Division III women's program Thomas More College. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.