WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Junior
Danielle Parker (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) celebrated her 21st birthday on Wednesday night and matched her age with 21 points as Washington & Jefferson stormed past Waynesburg, 86-73.
Parker's 21 points led all players as she finished 9-of-17 from the floor and made three three-pointers. It marked her sixth time topping 20 points over the 2017-18 campaign. She also snagged 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double this season, including the second-straight, and 14th of her career.
Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) reached double figures for the eight consecutive contest, reaching 20 points for the fourth time of her rookie year.
Amirah Moore (Moon Township, Pa./Moon) made it a trio of Presidents to hit two digits in points with 14, in addition to a game-high seven assists -- one off her season high of eight from Saturday afternoon versus Bethany.
Trailing 5-2 early, W&J embarked on a 15-0 run to open up a 17-5 lead with 5:25 of time elapsed in the first quarter. Gilbert scored eight-straight points in the middle of the run as W&J went 6-for-8 from the floor and 3-of-4 from three-point range during the spurt.
After that run, the closest the Yellow Jackets would get the score was six points, 62-56, with under a minute to play in the third quarter, but a jumper by Parker seconds later gave W&J an eight-point lead through 30 minutes and started an 8-0 run that built the margin back to double figures.
A 10-0 run that featured a pair of triples from
Mia Woytovich (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi) in the middle of the fourth helped to seal the game when it bumped the lead out to 82-62 with 4:24 to play.
One-third of the Presidents' 48 rebounds were on the offensive glass, while W&J had 25 assists (tying the season high) on 33 made baskets. W&J also possessed a 20-0 advantage in fast-break points.
W&J improves to 21-3 on the year and 15-2 in the Presidents' Athletic Conference with the win after topping 80 points for the eighth time this year. The 21 victories mark the fifth time in program history the Red & Black have had that number, with the program's single-season record standing at 24 (2015-16 and 2008-09).
The Presidents have clinched the PAC's number two seed in next week's PAC Championship Tournament and will receive a double bye to the semifinals, which will be played at Thomas More in Crestview Hills, Ky. Before that, however, W&J must head to Kentucky this weekend for a 1 p.m. tip-off against the league-leading Saints to close the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 17.
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