Box Score
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 22) – It wasn't always pretty, but the Waynesburg University women's basketball team defeated Washington & Jefferson for the third time this season on Tuesday night. This time, the victory punched the Yellow Jackets' ticket for the semifinal round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) playoffs.
Third-seeded Waynesburg combined a strong defensive effort and solid work at the free throw line to take down the sixth-seeded Presidents by the final score of 52-42. It was Waynesburg's first win in the PAC tournament since the 2005-06 season.
The Yellow Jackets (18-8) struck first on the night and opened up a 6-2 lead over the first three minutes of play. However, the Presidents (6-17) responded with a 5-0 run to take an early 7-6 advantage. The two teams continued to trade baskets and leads through most of the first half, but with just over six minutes to play until halftime, the Jackets went on a 9-0 run that turned a 15-14 lead for the visitors into a 23-15 edge for Waynesburg with 4:30 showing on the first-half clock. By the time the two teams broke for their respective locker rooms, the Jackets led 28-22.
Though W&J got as close as three points on multiple occasions, the Presidents were never able to tie or re-take the lead during the final 20 minutes of play. Waynesburg, meanwhile, built up leads as large as 12 points on multiple occasions and finished off their opponents by knocking down five-of-six free throw attempts over the last 30 seconds of competition.
Senior forward Elisha Jones led the Jacket offense with a game-high 13 points and gave a superb defensive effort with a game-high five blocked shots. Though Jones was the only player to reach double digits in scoring for the home team, four Waynesburg players chipped in six or more points on the evening. Junior point guard Hannah Hunter racked up nine points and dished out a game-high seven assists, while sophomore guard Brittany Spencer and sophomore forward Paige Pearce went for eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds each. Spencer also swiped a contest-best four steals. Sophomore guard Jessi Drayer contributed six points to the winning effort.
As previously mentioned, Waynesburg won the game with defense and efficiency from the free throw strip. The Jackets held W&J to 29.6 percent shooting from the floor and forced 20 turnovers, including 13 steals. Waynesburg also knocked down 17-of-25 tries from the charity stripe, while the Presidents only managed to hit on nine-of-19 attempts.
With the win, Waynesburg advances to the semifinal round of the PAC tournament, where they will face second-seeded Saint Vincent, the 19th ranked team in the country, on Friday at Thomas More College at 6 p.m. The Bearcats beat seventh-seeded Chatham 64-47 on Tuesday to advance. Top-seeded Thomas More, the number one team in the country, will host fifth-seeded Grove City after beating eight-seeded Thiel 68-47. The Wolverines advanced to the semifinal round with a 66-59 triumph over fourth-seeded Grove City.
