Box Score
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Nov. 20) – A fantastic individual effort from senior guard
Brittany Spencer and a major rebounding advantage weren't enough to propel the Waynesburg University women's basketball team to victory on Tuesday night at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. After falling behind 38-32 at halftime, the Yellow Jackets out-performed visiting Mt. Aloysius in the second half before falling 65-64.
Turnovers hampered Waynesburg's (1-2) efforts in the first half, as the Mounties (2-1) built up a 38-32 lead before heading to the locker room. A three-pointer in the opening seconds of the second half stretched Mt. Aloysius' lead to 41-32, before the Jackets went to work on cutting into the deficit, which they did by going on an 8-0 run that pulled them to within a single point (41-40) with 17:46 left to play.
The Mounties bounced back from the home team's run by scoring the next five points to rebuild a six-point lead (46-40). With 10:33 left in the second half, the game was tied up at 48-48 thanks to an 8-2 Waynesburg run. A layup by Spencer gave her team the lead back at 50-48 and it looked as though the Jackets were on their way to securing a victory in their home opener.
Waynesburg scored six of the next seven points to build a 56-49 lead, but Mt. Aloysius wasn't ready to give up the fight just yet, as a 10-3 surge tied the game at 59-59 with 2:52 showing on the clock. Momentum swung back to the Jackets thanks to three made free throws in four tries, but back-to-back made layups by the Mounties put the visitors up 63-62 with 26 seconds left in the contest.
Waynesburg took one last shot at a victory as senior forward
Paige Pearce converted a turnaround layup in the post to put the Jackets back in front 64-63 with just 12 seconds showing on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, the Mounties had the last laugh after a controversial foul call on Pearce put the visitors at the free throw line with seven seconds left to play. After Lauryn Colmer knocked down both shots from the stripe, Waynesburg had three good looks at a game-winning basket, but the ball simply wouldn't go down and a dejected Jacket team had to swallow a frustrating loss.
Though it came in a losing effort, Spencer put together her best game of the young season. The Baltimore native piled up a team-high 23 points and tied for the game lead with 11 rebounds, six of which were on the offensive side. She added a game-high three assists, blocked a game-high three shots and swiped three steals, which tied for the game high.
As previously mentioned, Waynesburg had a big advantage on the glass, pulling down 56 boards, to the Mounties' 40. Along with Spencer's 11 rebounds, sophomore
Rachel Lovely came off the bench to record eight boards, while senior guard
Jessi Drayer added seven and junior forward
Elaine Hasek had six.
A big key to Mt. Aloysius' win was the play of Lindsey Sammarco and Becky Bard, who went off for 27 and 19 points, respectively. The Mounties also made six three-pointers to Waynesburg's two and made 15 free throws to the Jackets' 12.
Things don't get any easier for the Jackets in their next game, when they host the fourth-ranked Mt. Union Purple Raiders. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 24.
