Box Score
BETHANY, W.Va. (Feb. 24) – The Waynesburg women's basketball team's season came to a heart-breaking end on Tuesday night during their first-round Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) tournament game at Bethany.
After racing out to a 39-27 lead at halftime, the Yellow Jackets were forced to watch their season fade away in the second period as the Bison came all the way back to tie the game at 61-61. Then, in overtime, Waynesburg simply couldn't find a scoring touch, were out-scored 7-2 and watched the Bison celebrate a 68-63 overtime victory.
Things did not start well for Waynesburg as Bethany jumped out to a 16-9 lead with 14:22 remaining in the opening period. However, the Jackets responded with a 9-0 run to take an 18-16 lead with 9:33 to go until halftime.
The Bison stopped the Jacket run and went on a 9-2 surge of their own to grab a 25-20 advantage with seven minutes left in the opening period. However, the momentum once again swung back into the visitors' favor as the Waynesburg offense exploded with a 19-2 spurt throughout the rest of the half.
The run was capped by a Hannah Hunter lay up that gave Waynesburg a 39-27 lead as the two teams went into their respective locker rooms.
With a trip to the second round of the PAC tournament within their grasps, the Jackets watched their double-digit lead whither to one (48-47) as the Bison got the second half off to a 20-9 start through the first 7:26. Bethany took the lead shortly thereafter on a pair of Stacy Goode free throws.
The two teams battled back and forth as the game neared the end of regulation. However, with just 38 seconds showing on the clock and her team down by two, sophomore forward Elisha Jones scored two of her 18 points on a lay up to knot the game up at 61-61 and eventually send the game into overtime.
Unfortunately for Waynesburg, they gave up a 7-0 run that spanned the first 4:47 of the extra period, effectively ending their hopes of advancing. Five of those points came from the free-throw line.
The Jackets' only points in overtime came on a jumper with four seconds on the clock by freshman forward Callie White.
White also put up 18 points to join Jones as the team leaders in scoring on the night. Junior guard Jen Scarborough and sophomore guard Johnna Deco also put up double-digit scoring efforts with 10 and 13 points, respectively. Deco also tied for the game lead with eight rebounds, while Jones swatted away three blocks.
Bethany was led by senior center Renee Brandenburg, who poured in a game-high 21 points and yanked down eight rebounds.
A big reason for the Jackets' struggles in the second half was a precipitous drop in shooting percentage. After hitting on 53 percent of their attempts in the first half (17-of-32), Waynesburg could only get 29 percent of their shots in the second half to fall.
Bethany, meanwhile, experienced the exact opposite. The Bison could only get 37 percent of their attempts (11-of-30) to fall in the first 20 minutes, but found their stroke in the second, hitting on 57 percent (12-of-21) of their shots from the floor.
Though their season ended in a bitter overtime loss, the Jackets and their fans have to be encouraged by a massive turn-around from last season. After winning just one contest in 2007-08, new head coach Sam Jones and his assistant coach, Rachel Dillon, were able to guide the Jackets to eight victories this season.
