PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball team dropped their first bout of the season on the road against the Carnegie Mellon Tartans, 80-77.
 
The Presidents now move to 2-1 on the season prior to conference play. The Tartans lift themselves to an untarnished 3-0 record.
 
Sophomore Jaden Wan (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock) led the Presidents in scoring on the night with 23 points. Meghan Dryburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) dropped a near triple-double stat line with 11 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
 
The Tartans managed a slight advantage in shooting percentage with a 43.1 mark for the team compared to the Presidents 41.2 mark from the field.
 
Wan and Dryburgh kicked off the scoring in the bout, jumping out to a 5-0 lead within the first three minutes of play. Wan drilled a three while Dryburgh tallied two points from the charity stripe. The Tartans responded with a 9-0 run to take their first lead of the game. A jumper by Dryburgh and layup made by Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) evened the score at nine. A fastbreak layup by Marina Grado (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) gave the team a 15-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
 
Following a 6-0 run by the Tartans to open the second quarter, Bryn Bezjak (Uniontown, Pa./Albert Gallatin) and Loutsion registered a response making a layup each to bring the opposing lead to 20-19. As the half came to a close, Wan completed a gritty and-one off a layup in the paint to knot the score at 40-40 heading into the half.
 
Out of the half, W&J took a 49-45 lead, triggered by seven points tallied by Wan and a layup by Dryburgh. The Tartans again responded with a run of their own, building a 61-53 lead at the close of the third quarter.
 
In an attempt to spark a late comeback in the fourth quarter, the Presidents began to chip away at Carnegie Mellon's lead with a made triple and mid-range jumper by Raegan Kadlecik (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour) to reduce the Tartan lead to 68-66. Two-point field goals by Wan and Loutsion kept the Presidents within striking distance down the stretch, but to no avail. The Tartans maintained their slim lead to the final buzzer, 80-77.
 
Carnegie Mellon held advantages in second-chance points (15-7) and fastbreak points (16-4). W&J posted a slight edge in bench points (33-18) yet was outrebounded 44-41.
 
Grado lead the team in causing turnovers with four steals. Wan and Dryburgh also logged two steals in the outing.
 
The Presidents hit a brief pause before entering Presidents' Athletic Conference play on Wednesday (Nov. 13), to face Franciscan. Opening tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in Steubenville, Ohio.