WHITEHALL — Dani Short received good motivation from a bad memory.

Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's 6-foot-1 junior forward struggled in the Trojanettes' first-round WPIAL basketball victory over Ambridge a few weeks ago.

“She was only five of 11 at the foul line and scored 11 points,” CWNC coach Molly Rottmann said. “She was disappointed in that game.

“Dani came out especially motivated tonight. She dominated from the get-go.”

Short scored 21 points and produced five steals Wednesday night as the Tropjanettes rolled past Ambridge, 68-40, in the second round of the PIAA Class 4A playoffs at Baldwin High School.

Short sank 10 of 11 shots from the field and connected on her only free throw of the night.

CWNC struggled its way to a 49-42 win over the Bridgers in their previous meeting.

“Ambridge has a good team, but we just clicked on all cylinders tonight,” Rottmann said. “The girls played very well.

“We are a much more balanced team this year. Teams can't play a box-and-one or triangle-and-two against us because a lot of our girls can shoot the ball.”

Tess Myers had 12 points and 10 assists for the Trojanettes (24-3) while Butler resident Kylee Lewandowski had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Kara Hazlett paced Ambridge (4-12) with 13 points.

CWNC managed just a 14-12 lead through the first quarter, but had a 28-19 lead at halftime.

“Ashley Robbins hit a couple of three's from the corner to give us some breathing room in that second period,” Rottmann said. “Our defense took over from there.”

The Bridgers scored seven points in the second quarter and only three in the third. CWNC took a 44-22 lead into the final eight minutes.

“We don't normally play a 2-3 zone, but we went to that in the third quarter and really shut them down,” Rottmann said.

The Trojanettes are riding a six-game winning streak into the state quarterfinal round. They will face Villa Maria — a 55-40 winner over Beaver on Wednesday — Saturday at a site and time to be determined.

CWNC defeated Villa Maria, 40-34, in the season opener at Oakland Catholic. It was Villa Maria that knocked the Trojanettes out of the PIAA tourney last season.

“You know you're in for a battle when you play Villa,” Rottmann said. “That team is always tough.”