WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Dec. 1) – The Waynesburg University women's basketball team hosted Chatham for a Saturday Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. The Yellow Jackets rallied from a deep early hole, but couldn't finish the comeback and fell 79-61 to the visiting Cougars.
 
Chatham (5-3, 2-0) got off to a fast start with a game-opening 11-2 run that grew to a 24-8 advantage after a quarter of play. The Cougars continued to pour on the offense and boasted a game-high 31-point lead (45-14) with 5:10 left in the first half.
 
However, the Waynesburg offense (5-3, 2-0) started to pull itself back into the contest by outscoring the visitors 15-3 over the final five-plus minutes of the quarter. Sophomore Andrea Orlosky (Shelocta, Pa. / Wes Shamokin) tallied six of those points and was joined by freshman Brooke Fuller (Allison Park, Pa. / Hampton), sophomore Elena McDermott (Slippery Rock, Pa. / Slippery Rock) and freshman Taylor Kovatch (North Belle Vernon, Pa. / Belle Vernon) all contributed to the surge that brought about a halftime score of 48-29.
 
The trip to the locker room didn't seem to slow the Yellow Jacket momentum as freshman Haley Porter (Belmont, Ohio / Union Local) knocked down a three-pointer to open the third quarter. After Chatham answered with a trey of its own, senior guard Monica Starre (Jewett, Ohio / Carrollton), who saw her first game action of the year because of an injury, answered with another three-pointer to make the score 51-35.
 
Waynesburg just kept coming at Chatham and a three-pointer from senior Julie Deklaven (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Seton La Salle) made the score 55-43 with 3:27 showing on the third-quarter clock. Less than a minute later, Orlosky drew a pair of fouls that led to three made free throws in four tries and with 2:39 left in the quarter, the Jackets trailed by just 11 (57-46).
 
Unfortunately, that's as close as the Orange and Black came to pulling off the miracle comeback, as Chatham closed out the period by outscoring the Jackets 6-3 to take a 63-49 advantage into the fourth quarter. The Cougars proceeded to close out the win from that point.
 
Though his team came out on the wrong end of the final score, head coach Sam Jones praised his team's resolve after a difficult start to the game.
 
"We got off to a rough start today and we need to figure some things outs," Jones said. "We showed a lot of fight, but we just put ourselves in too deep a hole."
 
Orlosky logged her first double-double of the season with a team-high 19 points and a game-best 12 rebounds. Fuller contributed 11 points, nine boards and three assists to the cause, while Starre tallied 11 points and five rebounds over just 12 minutes off the bench.
 
Waynesburg also held a noticeable advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Cougars by a 40-31 margin. Unfortunately, the home team's work on the glass was overshadowed by a prolific Chatham effort from three-point range. The Cougars drilled 13-of-28 three-pointers. Waynesburg countered with six makes in 26 attempts.
 
The Jackets will take another shot at their first PAC win of the season on Wednesday, when they hit the road to face Westminster. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.