MONROEVILLE — The Seneca Valley girls basketball team received the defensive effort it needed.

Offense was another story.

The Raiders forced 16 turnovers, but could not overcome 25 miscues of their own in a 45-35 loss to Oakland Catholic in a WPIAL Quad A quarterfinal playoff game Friday night at Gateway High School.

"I was very pleased with our defensive effort tonight, but the turnovers hurt us," said SV coach Todd Schoeffel. "We made some poor decisions against their full-court press defense."

Seneca Valley trailed 31-14 entering the fourth quarter before a late rally, capped by Ashley Turici's put-back for two points, cut the Eagles' lead to 36-26 with 3:21 remaining in the game.

But Oakland Catholic made crucial free throws down the stretch to ice the win.

The Raiders dictated the tempo early in the game.

With six minutes left in the first half, Oakland Catholic led just 9-8, having committed seven turnovers against SV's stingy defense.

But the Eagles (25-1) used the rest of the half to go on a 13-2 run and led 22-10 at halftime.

"It wasn't really anything that we had to adjust to offensively," said Eagles coach Rich Irr. "Seneca Valley was just playing a very physical game early on and our girls were getting knocked around."

Turnovers proved to be a thorn in SV's side all night long. The Raiders (17-9) had 14 of them by halftime and 23 at the end of three quarters.

"(Oakland Catholic) picked up their intensity," said Schoeffel. "And once they get a lead, they know how to play with it."

Entering Friday's action, the Eagles had faced seven WPIAL Quad A playoff teams this year, giving up an average of just 40 points per game.

"Our defense was the difference tonight," said Irr. "We made it difficult for Seneca Valley to stay in their offensive sets."

Senior forward Bridget Finnegan's 15 points led Oakland Catholic's offense. She scored eight of her team's nine points in the third period.

"All year it's been a different player stepping up for us," said Irr. "Tonight, (Erica) Prosser and (Aysha) Jones were held in check, but Bridget and Amanda Sedlack (11 points) both stepped up."

"I thought we matched up pretty well with them," said Schoeffel. "But they're a bit quicker than we are and that hurt us."

Chelsey Pavlick led the Raiders with 11 points, all in the second half.

SV now will hope for Oakland Catholic to beat New Castle in the WPIAL semifinals, which would give the Raiders a spot in the PIAA playoffs.

SENECA VALLEY 35Kelsey Spencer 2 2-2 8, Chelsey Pavlick 5 1-3 11, Ryan Ingrassia 1 0-0 3, Tina Mangola 1 0-0 3, Amanda Johnson 2 2-3 6, Ashley Turici 2 0-5 4, Jackie Mangola 0 0-0 0, Laura Wray 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 5-13 35.

OAKLAND CATHOLIC 45Carmela Breslin 1 0-0 3, Amanda Sedlack 3 5-5 11, Erica Prosser 1 3-4 5, Aysha Jones 2 3-6 7, Bridget Finnegan 7 0-0 15, Vickery Lauro 1 0-0 2, Angela Tassari 1 0-0 2, Becca Rothenberger 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 11-15 45.

3-point goals: Spencer 2, Ingrassia, T. Mangola; Breslin, Finnegan.