MEADVILLE, Pa. (Jan. 10) – The Waynesburg University women's basketball team picked up arguably its most impressive win of the season when it went on the road to take on Allegheny in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) showdown. Trailing big heading into the fourth quarter, the Yellow Jackets outscored the Gators 25-9 over the final 10 minutes to hand the Gators their first PAC loss of the season by the final score of 69-68.
 
The victory ended Waynesburg's (7-6, 2-2) 11-game losing streak against Allegheny (6-7, 3-1) that stretched back to 2010.
 
Junior guard Mia Henkins (Morgantown, W.Va. / Morgantown) gave the Orange and Black the first lead of the game with three pointer 18 seconds into the first quarter. Allegheny answered with five-straight points to move ahead 5-3 98 seconds into the game.
 
A field goal by senior Kalista Friday (Woodsfield, Ohio / Monroe Central) and a three pointer by senior Clara-Paige Miller (Waynesburg, Pa. / Waynesburg Central) put the visitors ahead 8-5 with 7:24 showing on the first-quarter clock. Allegheny responded by outscoring the Jackets 18-9 over the remainder of the period and led 23-17 heading to the second.
 
The home team never trailed during the second and third quarters and built leads as large as 17 points (51-34) before taking a 59-44 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of play. However, veteran head coach Sam Jones never let his players give up the fight, as the Jackets put together one of their finest quarters in recent program history.
 
Waynesburg flew out of the gates with a 13-2 run that lasted just over four minutes and featured five different scorers. With 5:51 left to play, the Jackets were within striking distance of victory (61-57).
 
The Gators gathered themselves and pieced together a 67-62 lead with just 97 second left to play. However, the Jackets had one more run left in them, which wound up being the deciding factor on the afternoon.
 
Junior Kara McFadden (Painesville, Ohio / Fairport Harding) landed the first blow with a layup, which was followed by another hoop in the paint by Miller. After a Gator miss gave Waynesburg possession with just 14 seconds remaining, McFadden drew a foul and calmly converted a pair of foul shots that gave Waynesburg the lead back at 68-67.
 
Junior Julz Mohrbacher (Freedom, Pa. / Freedom) made the defensive play of the game with a block and defensive rebound eight seconds later. McFadden proceeded to draw a foul after the swat and made one-of-two free throws to push the Jacket edge to 69-67.
 
Two ticks later, Allegheny managed to draw a foul, but the Gators converted just one-of-two foul shots, allowing Waynesburg to pull out the win.
 
Five different Yellow Jackets scored between eight and 13 points on the day, including Henkins, who tossed in a team-high 13 on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. She also connected on 3-of-5 from three-point range.
 
McFadden and senior Tori Wesolowski (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) posted 11 points each, while Miller chipped in nine to the winning effort. Senior Liv Ammons (Wadestown, W.Va. / Clay-Battelle) logged eight points on 3-of-3 shooting from the floor over just seven minutes off the bench.
 
Waynesburg's defense made a big impact on the final score by forcing Allegheny into 14 turnovers that were converted into 18 points. The Jacket bench also played a key role by outscoring the Gators' reserves 26-14.  
 
The Jackets return to the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Jan. 14, when they host Washington & Jefferson. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.