WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Feb. 21) – The Waynesburg University women's basketball team hosted Thiel on Monday night for a first-round matchup in the 2022 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) tournament. The eighth-seeded Yellow Jackets got a terrific challenge from the ninth-seeded Tomcats, but were able to prevail and advance to the quarterfinals with a 63-53 victory.
 
Waynesburg (6-19) opened a 5-0 lead thanks to a field goal from senior center Brooke Fuller (Allison Park, Pa. / Hampton) and a three-pointer from junior guard Anika Dansby (Massilon, Ohio / Washington). Thiel answered with a 6-0 surge to take a one-point advantage, which was the first of two first-half leads held by the Tomcats.
 
Trailing 9-7, Waynesburg ended the first quarter on a run of its own that consisted of a pair of three pointers by sophomore guard Avery Robinson (Ravenna, Ohio / Ravenna). Defense dominated the remainder of the period, as the Jackets maintained their 13-9 advantage over the last 3:50 of play before the second quarter got underway.
 
Baskets by Dansby and Fuller, the latter of which was a three pointer, extended the home team's lead to 18-9 after 1:41 of play in the second. The Jackets never trailed for the remainder of the contest and built advantages as large as 10 points before the halftime break.
 
The third quarter was another tightly contested 10 minutes of play, which saw Waynesburg outscore Thiel 13-11 and take a 49-40 edge to the fourth period. Back-to-back field goals by junior forward Leighton Croft (Morgantown, W.Va. / Trinity Christian) and Dansby pushed the Jacket advantage to 53-40.
 
Instead of using extended scoring runs to put the game away, Waynesburg executed a solid, consistent game plan to keep the Tomcats at bay. The Jackets led by as many as 15, before punching their ticket to the PAC quarterfinals.
 
Fuller was her usual productive self during her final game at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse. She logged 20 points on eight-of-13 shooting from the floor and knocking down all three of her foul shots over 34 minutes of play. She also pulled down seven rebounds in the win.
 
Dansby logged one of her best performances as a college athlete when she filled up the stat sheet with 12 points 13 rebounds and seven assists. Robinson also posted a standout all-around performance in the win. She tallied 11 points, nine of which came on a trio of three pointers, five rebounds, six steals and six assists.
 
Waynesburg got a pair of solid bench performances from freshman forward Madisen Dayton (Ridgeley, W.Va. / Calvary Christian Academy) and freshman guard Destiny Robison (McKeesport, Pa. / Imani Christian Academy). Both reserves tallied eight points and four rebounds each, while Dayton added a pair of assists to her night.
 
With the win, the Jackets move on to a Tuesday night quarterfinal matchup at top-seeded Washington & Jefferson. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.