WASHINGTON, Pa. – Despite scoring 10 points over the final 28 seconds of play, the Washington & Jefferson women's basketball team was unable to complete its season-saving comeback as the Presidents fell to William Paterson, 81-80, in the ECAC Division III Quarterfinals on Friday night, March 2.
W&J concludes the 2017-18 season with a 22-6 overall record, tied for the sixth-most wins in a single season in program history.
With 28 seconds left on the clock,
Mya Gordon (Washington, Pa./Washington) knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the Presidents' deficit down to six points. After the Pioneers missed both of their free throws on the ensuing possession,
Alie Seto (Allison, Pa./Brownsville) banked in a layup and was fouled on the play.
Seto sank her free throw to reduce the William Paterson lead to three points before both teams exchanged two free throws apiece to keep the Pioneers ahead, 80-77. A William Paterson free throw with 15 seconds left ran the lead to four points before
Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) hit a three-pointer to bring the Presidents back to within a point with just eight seconds remaining.
Despite the Pioneers missing both free throws on their next possession, the clock ran out on W&J before a potential game-winning shot was attempted as William Paterson hung on for the one-point win.
Amirah Moore (Moon Twp., Pa./Moon) scored the first points of the second half, a jumper just 19 seconds into the third quarter, to increase the Presidents' lead to 46-34. The Pioneers answered by scoring nine straight points in a two-minute span to bring the game back to a three-point margin. The Presidents held steady over the next eight minutes, increasing their lead to 64-57 with 8:02 remaining in the fourth quarter before William Paterson came back with another big run, this time a 10-0 streak to take a 67-64 lead.
W&J tied the game over the course of the next two minutes, but the Pioneers put together eight consecutive points to take a 78-70 lead into the final seconds of action.
The Presidents led for a majority of the first two quarters, leading by as many as six points in the first frame. Although the game was tied as late as the 6:16-mark in the second quarter, the Presidents ended the first half on a 16-6 run to take a 10-point lead into halftime.
Gilbert tallied a team-high 19 points on 6-of-11 from the field, including 4-for-5 from the foul line, and dished out two assists and came away with three steals. Moore finished with 18 points with 12 points coming from the free throw line as the senior set career highs in both made free throws (12) and attempted free throws (14) in the contest. Moore added five assists, a steal and a block to her line as well.
Gordon and
Taley Dunaway (Latrobe, Pa./Greater Latrobe) both notched 12 points in the game with Gordon shooting 4-for-10 from the floor and grabbing eight rebounds with four steals and two blocks. Dunaway's 12 points marked her sixth double-digit scoring effort of the season.
Mia Woytovich (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi) tied Gordon with a team-high eight rebounds which also matched her career high, Woytovich's fifth career eight-rebound game.
The Presidents finished the game going 26-for-32 at the free throw line, marking a season high and the most made free throws in a game since Feb. 11, 2017, against Bethany. For the game, W&J held advantages over William Paterson in points off turnovers (19-14), second chance points (16-5) and fast break points (11-8).
