Box Score
BETHANY, W.Va. (Dec. 6) – In his short speech at Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Media Day, new Waynesburg women's basketball coach Sam Jones said that his team would do better than last year's one-win squad.
Just five games into the season, Jones has proven true to his word after the Yellow Jackets beat Bethany 57-52. Even more importantly, the win moved Waynesburg to 2-0 in PAC play and 2-3 overall. The Bison women dropped to 1-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play.
The Jackets started strong, jumping out to a 29-23 lead at halftime. Freshman forward Callie White was a big reason for the hot start, scoring 13 of her game-high 19 points in the first 20 minutes of action on four-of-five shooting from the field. Including in those four makes was a pair of three-pointers.
Things didn't start well for Waynesburg as the Bison jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three minutes of play. However, the visitors roared back with a 9-0 run of their own, which was capped by a three-pointer from sophomore forward Elisha Jones that put her team up 9-6.
Bethany rebounded with a 10-2 stretch to grab a 16-11 lead near the halfway point of the contest. But, Waynesburg refused to put themselves in a deep hole, putting up six unanswered points, which allowed them to move back ahead 17-16 with 6:09 to go until halftime.
The Yellow Jackets continued to lead for most of the half and grabbed their six-point lead at the break after freshman point guard Hannah Hunter knocked a trey down with just one second left on the clock.
After the break, Waynesburg built their lead up to a game-high eight points (36-28) with 16:24 to go in the contest following a pair of Jen Scarborough foul shots.
The Bison battled back to take a one-point lead (49-48) with 2:53 to go, but Waynesburg put the clamps down on Bethany and built their lead back up to five (54-49) on two Jeanette Wonsettler three-pointers with 1:29 left to play.
A few late free throws less than 10 seconds left on the clock sealed up the victory for the Jackets.
Along with White, Waynesburg got a double-digit scoring effort from Wonsettler, who poured in a personal season-best 11 points.
The Jackets were also solid on the boards as five different players pulled down at least five rebounds each. Senior Johnna Deco led the way with a game-high 10 boards, while Jones added nine.
Jones was also a defensive stalwart underneath, swatting away a team season-high five blocks.
Waynesburg's success from beyond the three-point arc and the free throw line also played a key role in their success. Waynesburg connected on eight-of-22 from downtown (36.4 percent), as compared to Bethany, who managed to make just two-of-16 three-pointers.
The Jackets also held the advantage from the charity stripe, out-shooting the Bison 60 percent (15-of-25) to 46 percent (six-of-13).
Waynesburg will try to run their winning streak to three on Saturday, Dec. 13, when open their home schedule against a powerful Saint Vincent team.
