Box Score WASHINGTON, Pa. – Washington & Jefferson women's basketball was able to secure a substantial margin to overcome Bethany, 77-59.
A layup by
Beka Bellhy, assisted by
Rachel Bellhy, put the Presidents on the board to open the game. The rest of the quarter was kept close, even seeing a 10-10 tie at 4:44. A three pointer by Bethany at 1:21 helped push the Bison to a four point margin. Two competed free throws by B. Bellhy with ten seconds to go in the quarter brought W&J back up to only two points down, 20-18, to wrap up the first.
The Presidents opened the second quarter to tie it up, 20-20, thanks to a layup in the paint by B. Bellhy, assisted by Ashley Mikelonis. This helped W&J find its momentum, as it pulled ahead with a fastbreak layup by Danielle Parker, followed by another fastbreak by Danni Medovich, and finished with a jumper by Amirah Moore before Bethany was once again able to find the basket.
A three pointer sunk by Taylor Cortazzo at 4:09 secured a seven point lead that B. Bellhy continued to build on with a layup shortly after. The Presidents went into the half with a comfortable 39-29 lead.
W&J opened scoring for the third time when Moore tallied a layup within the first ten seconds of the second half. The Bison came no closer than nine points before the Presidents hit their stride with a quarter-high 20 point margin, 57-37. Bethany attempted to recover by answering with a three pointer at 2:55, but a jump shot by Mia Woytovich ended the quarter at 63-45.
The final quarter had the teams going back and forth before two free throws by Alyssa Riley and a layup by Katey Wilson moved the presidents to 23 points ahead. Despite two final free throws by Bethany with two seconds left in the game, W&J held onto the lead and ended with a 77-59 win.
B. Bellhy led the team with a game-high double-double scoring 23 points and bringing down 10 rebounds. R. Bellhy also scored in the double digits with 12 points while defensively blocking four shots. Amirah Moore picked up 11 points of her own and also contributed a team-high five assists.
The Presidents will return to action on January 20 when they travel to Westminster for a Presidents' Athletic Conference matchup at 6:00 pm.
