WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball team overcame a 15-point third quarter deficit but ultimately was edged by Grove City 69-67 at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium on Wednesday.
The Presidents and Wolverines entered with identical 5-2 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) records in the final game of the first round of the PAC schedule. The Wolverines emerged 14-2, 6-2 PAC while the Presidents fell to 10-6, 5-3 PAC.
Grove City used a 12-5 spurt in the first five minutes in the third quarter to build a 45-30 lead with 5:52 remaining in the period. The Presidents roared back with a 16-2 run featuring seven points from
Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and five from
Maddie Gutierrez (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette).
The duo connected on back-to-back threes to cut to bring the Presidents within three at 47-44.
Hannah Johnston (East Freedom, Pa./Central) punctuated the run with a jumper to trim the deficit to one. The Wolverines carried a 51-47 advantage in to the fourth quarter.
Aleena McDaniel (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) opened the fourth quarter with a layup and Gilbert's three with 8:38 left in the put the Presidents back within one, down 53-52.
The Wolverines used a three-point play by Jordan McConnell to take a 57-54 lead, but W&J responded with a Seto layup and Johnston connected on a go-ahead three from the right wing to give the Presidents their first lead of the evening at 59-58 with 4:21 to play.
The game see-sawed back and forth over the game's final minutes. Grove City's Jess Bowen put the Wolverines up one with a backdoor layup. Seto responded with a go-ahead layup of her own and Gilbert tacked on a pair of free throws to lead 63-60 with 3:11 left.
GCC's Emma Vezzosi tied the game with a three and both teams failed to convert on each of their next two possessions. Bowen scored on a second-chance opportunity with 1:15 left in the game to give GCC a 65-63 lead with 1:15 to go.
The Presidents couldn't convert on the other end and the Wolverines' Jess Book was freed up a layup to give the Wolverines a 67-63 lead with 31 seconds remaining.
W&J had an opportunity to tie the game late when Gutierrez made a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left and Grove City missed on a pair of free throws to ice the game. The Presidents were unable to get off a shot in the game's final moments and Grove City converted on two free throws after a W&J turnover.
Maria Lawhorne (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) made a layup as time expired to narrow the final margin to two.
The Presidents were playing catchup all evening as Grove City established an early 7-0 as the W&J was held without a field goal in the game's first four minutes. The Red and Black responded with six-straight points with two free throws from Johnston and baskets by
Piper Morningstar (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and Seto.
Grove City stayed one step ahead with a three pointer to lead 10-6. The Presidents again pulled within one at 10-9 before back-to-back baskets by the Wolverines. Grove City finished the quarter with a 6-0 flurry that included the Wolverines' third three-pointer of the quarter. Grove City carried a 22-14 lead into the second quarter.
Neither team found a groove offensively in the second quarter as both squads tallied 11 points. Nine of the Presidents' 11 points came from the free throw line in the quarter. Grove City maintained an eight-point halftime lead at 33-25. The Wolverines pushed their lead to as many as 15 early in the third.
Gilbert played all 40 minutes and notched 16 points, seven assists, five steals and three rebounds. Seto had 16 points and six rebounds despite battling foul trouble in the first half.
Gutierrez poured in 11 points and four rebounds, while Johnston and Lawhorne added nine points each.
The Presidents converted on 21-of-28 free throw attempts while Grove City was five-of-eight from the Charity stripe.
Bowen paced Grove City with 20 points.
The Presidents begin their second circuit around the PAC Saturday with a home matchup with Saint Vincent at 1:00 p.m.
