Bethel Park’s Westphal commits to Duquesne

Bethel Park basketball player Liv Westphal had a Zoom video conference scheduled for Sunday with the Duquesne University women’s coaching staff. Westphal requested the conference to be moved up three days.

She had news to share and didn’t want to wait.

Westphal, one of the top basketball players in the WPIAL Class of 2021, made a verbal commitment to Duquesne Thursday night. Her other finalists were Toledo, George Washington, Miami of Ohio and Wichita State.

“I moved up the Zoom call because I wanted to commit,” Westphal said.

Westphal is a 5-foot-9 junior shooting guard who averaged 15.2 points. 3.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game this past season. She also had 51 3-pointers for a Bethel Park team that made it to the WPIAL Class 6A championship. She was a Post-Gazette All-WPIAL Class 6A selection and also second-team all-state.

“Their whole coaching staff is what made me want to go there the most,” Westphal said. “I’ve had such a good connection with them since eighth grade.”

Westphal’s choice of Duquesne is another indication of how coach Dan Burt is recruiting hard in the WPIAL. Chartiers Valley’s Megan McConnell and North Catholic’s Tess Myers have signed with Duquesne. Burt also has scholarship offers out to a few other WPIAL players.

“I’ve been playing AAU basketball with Megan McConnell since fifth grade,” Westphal said. “She’s always been pushing for me to go to Duquesne. I called her and told her I was committing. She was crying tears of joy.”