WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Jan. 17) – The Waynesburg University women's basketball team got off to a fast start in Wednesday's marquee Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup against visiting Washington & Jefferson. Unfortunately, the Yellow Jackets were not able to build off an early double-digit lead and wound up falling 83-72 to the Presidents.
Waynesburg (10-6, 6-3), which came into the night tied for third place in the conference standings, used a 16-6 run early in the first quarter to build a 21-11 advantage over the visiting Presidents (14-2, 8-1), who now stand alone in second place in the PAC. W&J knocked down a three-pointer to make the score 21-14, but an old-fashioned three-point play from freshman
Andrea Orlosky with 25 seconds showing on the clock gave the Jackets a 24-14 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
Six minutes into period number two, W&J battled all the way back to tie the score at 30-30. However, Waynesburg responded with seven-straight points to grab a 37-30 lead. The Presidents responded by outscoring the Jackets 5-2 over the final 1:17 to bring about the halftime score of 39-35.
Unfortunately for the home team, the third quarter belonged to the Red and Black, which outscored the Yellow Jackets 29-18 to take a 64-57 lead into the fourth period. A layup by senior forward
Addy Knetzer with just under six minutes left to play cut the President advantage down to 72-66, but that's as close as Waynesburg came to completing the comeback.
Though it came in a losing effort, Knetzer put together an impressive offensive performance. She went eight-of-11 from the floor, knocked down two-of-three three-pointers and drilled six-of-seven tries from the free throw line for a game-high 24 points. She added seven rebounds to her evening's work.
Fellow senior
Mackenna Drazich just missed out on a double-double after tallying 19 points and pulling down a game-high nine rebounds. Senior guard
Rachel Eng chipped in 12 points for the Jackets and swiped away three steals, while junior point guard
Monica Starre dished out a contest-best nine assists.
Waynesburg is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 20, when it travels to Bethany for a PAC meeting with the Bison. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
