FOX CHAPEL - Neither team was on target shooting from the field.

From the foul line? Different story.

Knoch sank 17 of 21 free throws in the fourth quarter Saturday at Fox Chapel High School to wrap up a surprising 51-38 WPIAL Class AAA girls basketball playoff victory over Section 4 champion Thomas Jefferson.

"Take care of the basketball and make your free throws," Knoch coach Curt Vasas said. "That's the key to winning close basketball games and that's what we did today."

The Lady Knights (14-9) used a 15-0 run to assume an 18-9 lead in the second quarter. Thomas Jefferson (16-7) used a 14-0 run to grab a 27-23 lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter.

When Knoch guard Liz Burgard sank two free throws with 5:14 left in the game, the score was even at 31.

"It came down to which team wanted it more," Knoch point guard Nicole Reiser said.

And which team could hit a shot.

The Lady Jaguars sank only five of 27 field goals in the second half.

"We never did get into our offense," Thomas Jefferson coach Rob Pupich said. "It was an off-day shooting at the wrong time."

Knoch wasn't doing much better. The Knights missed 18 of 21 field goal attempts in the second half before Lauren Koegler drained a 3-pointer for a 34-31 lead with 4:45 remaining.

The Knights never trailed again.

"It's tough scoring inside against them," Koegler said. "We knew we'd have to rely on our guard play. But we've done that before."

"We're not exactly a post-up team," Vasas admitted.

Reiser sank two free throws each at the 4:28, 3:02 and 2:52 marks of the fourth quarter. She added another to give Knoch a 41-33 lead with 1:44 remaining.

The Jaguars cut the gap to 41-35, but Koegler got those two points back on a fast-break lay-up. And when teammate Maria Frey missed two free throws, Koegler snared the rebound, was fouled and made both shots for a 45-35 lead with 55 seconds left.

"Our foul shooting was amazing," Vasas said. "They had ice water in their veins, all of them."

In the fourth quarter, Reiser sank seven of eight free throws, Koegler six of seven, Burgard and Jen Robinson two of two each.

Robinson's two free throws were her lone points of the game, but she had 11 of 34 Knoch rebounds.

"I can't say enough about Jen," Vasas said. "She dominated the boards when we needed her to."

Koegler scored a career-high 23 points for the Knights and added seven boards. Reiser had 20 points and Burgard six rebounds.

All five of Knoch's starters had at least four rebounds each.

"Coach Vasas talked about how we had to rebound as a team," Koegler said. "Early in the season, we were terrible on the boards."

Bethany Winovich led Thomas Jefferson with 15 points while Nikki Pesto added 14. Both had seven of the Jaguars' 24 rebounds, as did Elise D'Alessandro.

Thomas Jefferson has not won a WPIAL playoff game since 2001. It won its first section title since 1994.

The Jaguars start four seniors. Knoch starts five.

"It was hard saying goodbye to them," Pupich said of his seniors. "They put together a big year. But Knoch just outplayed us down the stretch.

"When we saw the bracket, I knew we'd have trouble with them. They lost two close ones to Mars and Hampton … They're a very good team."

Vasas referred to the season as "a work in progress toward this game."

The Knights will face Blackhawk - a 37-35 winner over Indiana Saturday - in the next round at a date, site and time to be determined. Blackhawk eliminated Knoch in the second round last year.

"They beat us pretty good (65-43) in the Butler Christmas Tournament, too," Vasas said. "We're anxious for another shot at them."

KNOCH 51

Liz Burgard 1-13 2-2 4, Maria Frey 1-8 0-2 2, Lauren Koegler 7-14 6-7 23, Nicole Reiser 5-10 8-9 20, Jen Robinson 0-1 2-2 2, Pam Gagen 0-1 0-0 0, Liz King 0-1 0-2 0. Totals: 14-48 18-24 51

THOMAS JEFFERSON 38

Nikki Pesto 5-12 1-2 14, Jill Pozycki 1-10 0-3 3, Ashleigh Hays 0-7 4-6 4, Bethany Winovich 5-8 5-6 15, Elise D'Alessandro 1-8 0-0 2, Erica Nath 0-2 0-0 0, Ashley Moore 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 12-48 10-14 38

3-point goals:

Koegler 3, Reiser 2; Pesto 3, Pozycki

TBA:

Knoch vs. Blackhawk, WPIAL Class AAA playoffs