Box Score
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 21) – Waynesburg's senior guard
Hannah Hunter saved one of her best games for one of her last performances in orange and black as she led the Jackets to a victory over Thiel College in the opening round of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) tournament.
Third-seeded Waynesburg combined a strong defensive effort and solid work on the offensive glass to take down the sixth-seeded Tomcats by the final score of 80-68. It is the second consecutive year in which the Jackets have won at least 20 games and at least one PAC tournament game.
The Yellow Jackets (20-6) struck first on the night and opened up a 7-2 lead over the first five minutes of play. However, the Tomcats (8-18) responded with a 6-4 run to trim the Jacket lead to just three (11-8) after eight minutes of play. That was as close as Thiel would get in the first half, as Waynesburg led by as many as 13 in first half. The Jackets ended up taking a 38-31 advantage into halftime.
Thiel cut the Jackets' lead down to eight (47-39) with 16:50 remaining in the contest. However, the Jackets stopped the bleeding and built up leads to as large as 18 points before scoring the win.
Hunter had one of the best all-around performances in Waynesburg women's basketball history, as she finished with a game-high 28 points, a team-best nine rebounds, eight assists and five steals. Hunter's eight assists gave her 449 assists for her career, making her Waynesburg's all-time career assists leader, breaking Renee Harris's previous record of 446, which had stood for 19 years (1992). Hunter's eight assists also gave her 140 on the season, which broke her own school-record of 132 in a season, a record set last season.
Including Hunter, the Jackets had a total of four players score in double-digits. Junior guard
Brittany Spencer scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while junior guard
Jessi Drayer added 14 points, six rebounds and three steals. Sophomore forward
Elaine Hasek chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.
As previously mentioned, the Jackets outrebounded the Tomcats 44-to-38, including a 22-to-9 advantage on the offensive glass. Waynesburg also turned the ball over just 12 times while forcing the Tomcats to turn the ball over 23 times.
With the win, Waynesburg advances to the semifinal round of the PAC tournament, where they will face second-seeded Saint Vincent, on Friday, Feb. 24, at Thomas More College at 6 p.m. The Bearcats beat seventh-seeded W&J 70-64 on Tuesday to advance. Top-seeded Thomas More will host fourth-seeded Bethany after beating eight-seeded Grove City 70-47. The Bison advanced to the semifinal round with a 71-52 triumph over Westminster College.
