WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 21) – The Waynesburg University women's basketball team celebrated senior day on Saturday, as part of its regular season finale against Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) rival Chatham.  The Yellow Jackets scored their fifth-straight victory heading into the postseason by defeating the Cougars 81-58.
 
The win avenged a 64-59 loss that the Jackets (15-10, 12-6) suffered at the hands of Chatham (6-19, 3-15) back on Jan. 17. Waynesburg's current five-game win streak is the program's longest since the 2011-12 campaign.
 
Things started well for the Orange and Black as junior guard Lauren Blair and senior guard Rebecca Kerr opened the scoring with layups on back-to-back possessions. Chatham responded with a layup of its own to set the tone for the early portion of the first half as a back-and-forth struggle.
 
Chatham grabbed its first lead of the day at 14-13 with 10:16 remaining in the period. It turned out to be the only time of the afternoon that the Cougars would lead the number-four team in the conference. A three-pointer by Kerr gave her team the lead back at 16-14 and the Jackets didn't' trail for the remainder of the day.
 
Even though Kerr's trey gave the host squad the lead for good, Waynesburg didn't gain firm control of the matchup until the 12:58 mark of the period. It was at that point that Kerr added two free throws to what wound up being a career day for the veteran. Those points kick-started an 8-0 Jacket run that turned a 22-18 advantage, into a healthier 30-18 lead. Appropriately, all eight points were scored by the day's three senior honorees: Kerr, forward Rachely Lovely and guard Hayden Giuliani.
 
Chatham stopped the surge with a free throw, but the Orange and Black wasted little time in distancing itself from the opposition by scoring 12 of the half's final 15 points. When the first period was concluded, the Jackets found themselves ahead 42-22.
 
A trip to the locker room did little to slow Waynesburg's momentum, as the home team scored the first eight points of period number two to go ahead 50-22. The Yellow Jacket lead grew to as many as 30 points on multiple occasions before securing the win. Waynesburg never led by fewer than 21 points over the second half.
 
Kerr saved maybe the best game of her collegiate career for Saturday by scoring a career and game-high 28 points on eight-of-16 shooting from the field. The New Castle, Pennsylvania native connected on all 11 of her free throws and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds.
 
Sophomore forward Addy Knetzer came off the bench to chip in 12 points and eight rebounds, while Giuliani completed a trio of double-digit scorers by dropping 10 against the Cougars.
 
Waynesburg did a fine job of protecting the basketball, as it gave up just eight turnovers, while forcing Chatham to cough the ball up 15 times. The Jacket perimeter defense was particularly impressive, as the Cougars missed all 11 of their three-point attempts.
 
Waynesburg can now turn its attention to the upcoming PAC tournament. The fourth-seeded Yellow Jackets will host the winner of the five versus eight game, which features Thiel going to Grove City on Monday. The Jackets will host either the Tomcats or Wolverines on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.