Pat Espe ’14: The Episcopal Academy Girls’ Basketball team has made history this year with both the first Inter-Ac and State titles in the team’s history. Episcopal Academy, ranked fourth in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, won its first ever Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association (PAISAA) title with a resounding 56-42 victory over Inter-Ac rival Germantown Academy.
“I thought the Inter-Ac was good, but this is almost just as good. It feels great,” stated captain Kristen Hinckley ’13, whose nine points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals helped seal the deal at the State Championship game. “I couldn’t ask for anything more. Everyone has worked so hard and that hard work has really paid off. We achieved both of our team goals, winning the Inter-Ac and State’s.”
Having beaten Germantown Academy on both their runs to the Inter-Ac title and to the State title, it is safe to say GA’s historical dominion over the Inter-Ac is waning.
Hinckley noted, “I think we knew it would be a hard game. It’s always hard to beat the same team three times … but we rose to the occasion. We knew what we had to do and got it done. Since we played them twice, we knew what they were doing and we knew how to combat that. It was a good matchup for us.”
The Churchwomen had compiled just three losses this season: Shipley, Notre Dame and Archbishop Wood High School. The team beat Shipley in order to proceed to the PAISAA final; they also had to redeem themselves against an admittedly tough Notre Dame squad later in the season. This game against Notre Dame came only weeks after suffering their first loss of the season to Notre Dame.
“Usually we have practices before big games, but coming into this we knew what we had to do,” recalled Megan Quinn ’13, whose eight rebounds, three blocks and a game-high 24 points as well as the win made her last high school game very special. “Momentum was big,” Quinn noted.
Quinn is the school’s all-time leading scorer and reigning Daily Times Player of the Year. Quinn, who shot 11-for-13 from the foul line and 6-for-13 from the floor, was unstoppable in this game.
She scored 15 points in the first half alone, making a strong statement to Germantown Academy. The 6’2’’, Villanova-bound forward hit a three-pointer with time expiring in the second quarter to pull the Churchwomen ahead by 10 points.
Some thought that the previous two victories over Germantown Academy would statistically put Episcopal at a disadvantage. Coach Simmonds, however, thought differently: “I don’t think the whole idea of beating a team three times was a worry. They were playing better; we saw them yesterday,” Simmonds explained. “They put out combinations that were different than the kind they put out against us last time. So, it’s just having the adjustments ready. … I give our girls a lot of credit [for the job] they did defensively. I don’t know if [Maria] Kilcullen [’15] scored, but defensively she was huge today. Everyone else had to buy in and take away whatever strengths they had, the strengths that we knew they had.”
The Churchwomen had a two-point lead after one quarter, but once they went on a 9-2 run early in the second, EA was in control. In the second half the Patriots could only clip at Episcopal’s heels as they ran away with the championship while never surrendering anything less than an eight point lead and leading by as much as 18.
“Coming into this game if we wanted to win, we knew we had to play like we did before,” Quinn stated. However she was willing to admit the emotions of the game, by noting, “This game was all about heart.”

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