Box Score WASHINGTON, Pa. – The W&J women's basketball team tallied 50 bench points in a 75-49 victory over visiting Waynesburg in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game Wednesday night at Salvitti Family Gym.
A trio of Presidents scored in double figures, as sophomore forward
Sarah Berardelli (Ambridge, Pa./North Catholic), senior guard
Aleena McDaniel (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) and junior forward
Maddi Gutierrez (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) each finished with 12 points.
The win is the fifth straight for the Presidents, who improve to 17-4 overall and 13-1 in PAC play. The loss drops the Yellow Jackets to 4-16 overall and 4-10 and PAC games.
The two teams played through a back and forth first quarter. The Yellow Jackets opened with the game's first five points before W&J used an 8-2 run to take its first lead. A three-pointer by freshman guard
Bryn Bezjak (Uniontown, Pa./Albert Gallatin) gave W&J the 8-7 edge at the 4:11 mark.
Waynesburg regained the lead at 11-8 when Avery Robinson sank a three-pointer with 3:17 to play in the first. W&J took the lead for good behind a pair of three-point field goals by Cherry that made it 16-12 Presidents. After a three by Waynesburg, McDaniel converted a layup just before the buzzer to give W&J an 18-15 lead after 10 minutes. The W&J bench accounted for 15 of the 18 points in the opening frame.
Berardelli accounted for eight of the 18 second quarter points for the Presidents. Berardelli accounted for back-to-back baskets to swell the lead to 27-15 at the 4:55 mark. A three-pointer by Cherry, her third of the first half, gave W&J a 32-15 advantage to cap W&J's 14-0 run. The Presidents took a 36-21 advantage into halftime behind a 14-for-31 shooting performance from the field over the first 20 minutes.
The Presidents outscored Waynesburg by a 19-9 margin in the third to extend the lead to 55-30. A pair of free throws by Bezjak extended the W&J lead to 49-28 with 4:08 to play in the third. The President scored their final eight points of the frame at the free throw line.
Gutierrez starred in the fourth quarter, as the junior registered 10 points in the frame. After opening the fourth with a pair of free throws, Gutierrez converted a driving layup to take a 59-32 lead with 7:42 to play. Gutierrez added a pair of three-pointers as W&J nailed down the victory.
Cherry and Bezjak just missed finishing in double figures, as each player finished with nine points off the bench. Senior guard
Kamryn Lach (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) tallied a team-high four assists while Bezjak chipped in three helpers. Lach and
Meghan Dryburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) each recorded a team-high seven rebounds.
W&J held advantages in rebounding (47-36), points in the paint (28-12) and bench points (50-9). The Presidents were stellar from the free throw line, as the Red and Black converted 25-of-28 attempts (89.3 percent) from the charity stripe. McDaniel was a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line.
W&J travels to Geneva College for a PAC game on Saturday, Feb. 12. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
