WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball team led for most of the evening, but fell to a clutch-shooting Penn State Behrend squad 63-60 in non-conference action on Monday evening.
 
W&J led for over 86 percent of the contest, holding a lead at the end of the first, second and third quarters, however the Lions outscored W&J 25-14 in the final period to secure an impressive non-conference victory.
 
Through the first three quarters, PSB shot four-of-18 from three, but the Lions connected on five-of eight (62.5 percent) threes in the game's final 10 minutes.
 
The Presidents opened the fourth quarter with a layup by Piper Morningstar (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) to push their advantage to 48-38. PSB responded with a three before Morningstar answered with a triple of her own to keep the Presidents ahead 10.
 
The Lions erased the double-digit deficit in just over two minutes of game time with an 11-0 spurt that saw the Lions shoot four-of-four from the floor with three three-pointers, both by Kara Haslett. Haslett's second triple handed the Lions a 54-53 lead.
 
Alie Seto (Allison, Pa./Brownsville) provided late-game heroics by answering with a three of her own to put the Presidents back on top 55-54 with 4:39 to play. Following a PSB layup to tie the game, Seto respnoded with another go-ahead bucket with 1:55 left in regulation to put the Presidents up 58-56.
 
The Lions connected on a three and a free throw to take a 60-58 lead in the final 30 seconds, but Seto answered the call once again with an elbow jumper to knot the contest at 60.
 
PSB's Caitlin Carnuche was fouled with 14 seconds remaining and converted both free throws and Victoria Koeck's (Sidman, Pa./Forest Hills) three at the buzzer missed its mark.
 
The Presidents established their lead with a 12-0 run to in the first quarter's final 3:10 to carry a 21-9 advantage into the second.
 
PSB's Kourtney Beamesderfer connected on a three-pointer to tie the game at nine with 3:37 left in the quarter but the tie was short-lived as Aleena McDaniel connected on a three of her own the next trip down.
 
Seto reeled off the game's next five points with a jumper off an assist from McDaniel and a successful three-point play after collecting a feed from Megan Williams.
 
Maria Lawhorne (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) and Koeck finished the run with layups to push W&J ahead by double-digits.
 
W&J attempted 15 more shots than PSB in the first quarter due to an 18-4 rebounding advantage, including 13 offensive rebounds.
 
The Loins worked their way back into the game thanks to four W&J turnovers in the first five minutes of the second quarter as PSB put together a 9-2 spurt to pull within five (23-18) midway through the second quarter.
 
PSB trimmed the deficit to four (27-23) with two minutes to play in the first quarter before Lawhorne responded with a three-point play and Morningstar added a layup in the final minute to help extend W&J's lead to 32-25 at halftime.
 
Lawhorne scored six-straight points for W&J late in the second quarter to keep the Presidents a step ahead of the Lions.
 
In the third quarter, W&J used a 9-0 run, powered by five points from Seto, to extend its lead to 13 (44-31). However the Lions scored seven of the final nine points scored in the period to make it an eight-point game heading into the fourth.
 
W&J owned a 45-30 rebounding advantage for the game and scored 18 second-chance points on a season-high 25 offensive rebounds.
 
Seto poured in a season-high 23 points and had nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Lawhorne scored 12 points and collected four rebounds. McDaniel added nine points.
 
Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) notched a team-high six assists and Hannah Johnston (East Freedom, Pa./Central) corralled a career-best 11 rebounds.
 
W&J resumes Presidents' Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon at Westminster.