HIRAM, Ohio (Nov. 5) – The Waynesburg University women's basketball team tipped off the 2021-22 season on Friday night at Hiram. The Yellow Jackets battled the Terriers into overtime, but came up just short of a win in an 89-83 contest.
 
Waynesburg (0-1) opened the game on a 10-2 run that featured five points from senior center Brooke Fuller (Allison Park, Pa. / Hampton). The early surge was capped by the team's first three pointer of the season, which came courtesy of sophomore Marley Wolf (Ellwood City, Pa. / Riverside).
 
Hiram (1-0) answered Waynesburg's challenge with an 11-3 run that tied the score at 13-13 with 3:56 remaining in the first quarter. The Jackets ended that opening period by outscoring the opposition 8-6 to take a 21-19 lead into the second quarter.
 
A back-and-forth period saw Hiram lead by as much as eight points (35-27), but an 11-0 run by the visitors put them back ahead 38-35 with just under one minute to play until halftime. Hiram closed out the half by connecting on three-of-four foul shots to forge a 38-38 tie at the break.
 
The third quarter was a tightly contested 10 minutes of action with neither side leading by more than three points at any time. A trey with 28 seconds showing on the game clock from sophomore Avery Robinson (Ravenna, Ohio / Ravenna) knotted the score at 59, which was also the score as the fourth quarter got underway.
 
Things weren't looking good for the Jackets as the fourth quarter wore down to just 3:28 showing on the clock. Facing a 77-70 deficit, Waynesburg put together a 9-0 run that included five points from Wolf. The final basket of that surge came from Fuller and gave the Jackets a 79-77 edge with just three seconds on the clock.
 
Unfortunately, the Terriers managed to drop in a layup with one second on the clock that tied the score at 79-79. A last-second three-point attempt by the Jackets didn't find the mark and the game went into overtime.
 
The Orange and Black never led in the extra period, as Hiram jumped out to a six-point edge over the first minute of overtime. Waynesburg never got closer than four points in its comeback attempt and suffered the six-point defeat.
 
Robinson led the Yellow Jacket offense with a team-high 21 points, 15 of which came from five made three pointers on 11 attempts. Fuller added 19 points on nine-of-14 makes from the floor, while Wolf chipped in 13 points of her own. Junior Leighton Croft (Morgantown, W.Va. / Trinity Christian) made a successful return to competition on Friday night. After not playing last year, Croft came off the bench to pile up 17 points on seven-of-10 shooting from the field and a perfect three-for-three effort from the charity stripe.
 
Junior Anika Dansby (Massilon, Ohio / Washington) was busy during her team-high 43 minutes on the floor. She scored seven points, dished out a game-high eight assists and grabbed a squad-best nine rebounds.
 
The Jackets are off until Tuesday, Nov. 16, when they play their first home game of the season against Case Western Reserve. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.