PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Despite not scoring in the fourth quarter until 5.6 seconds remained, the Presidents matched their best start to a season since 2002-03 by downing Carnegie Mellon, 51-48, in nonconference road action.
 
With the victory, the Washington & Jefferson women's basketball team, which is receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, improves to 7-0 thanks to four non-league wins.
 
Senior guard Taley Dunaway (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) scored W&J's last seven points of the game, a pair of free throws with 5.6 seconds left that iced the game, a three-pointer with 58 seconds left in the third quarter and a layup at 2:42 of the third period. Senior guard Mia Woytovich (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi) blocked a last-second three-point attempt by the Tartans to seal the win.
 
Junior forward Danielle Parker (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) posted her third-straight double-double, and the 10th of her career, finishing with 16 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. She has now scored in double figures in six-straight games.
 
After a slow start to the game where W&J held a 12-9 lead after 10 minutes of play, the two teams combined for 40 second-quarter points, with the Presidents posting a 25-15 advantage to hold a 37-24 lead at intermission. In all, W&J scored just 14 second-half points, while CMU totaled 24.
 
The Presidents committed a season-worst 22 turnovers in the win, which the Tartans capitalized into 17 points, but W&J held CMU to only 25.8 percent (17-of-66) from the field for the game.
 
Senior guard Amirah Moore (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) also reached double figures with 12 points, while freshman guard Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) finished with nine points on 3-of-7 from beyond-the-arc. Gilbert's five assists matched the game high. Woytovich added seven rebounds, while sophomore guard Nicole Ricketts (Montgomery Village, Md./St. John's Catholic Prep) chipped in five rebounds.
 
W&J will return to Presidents' Athletic Conference play on Saturday, Dec. 9, hosting Grove City at 1 p.m.