Washington & Jefferson (1-0) hosts the Annual Hampton Inn by Hilton Women's Basketball Tipoff

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TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE:

Friday, November 14th, 2025 
6:00 PM- Mount Union vs. Westminster
8:00 PM- W&J vs. Ohio Northern
 
Saturday, November 15th, 2025
2:00 PM- Ohio Northern vs. Westminster
4:00 PM- W&J vs. Mount Union
 
THE BASICS: The Washington & Jefferson College Presidents remain the hosts of the Hampton Inn by Hilton Women's Basketball Tipoff in 2025. Fellow PAC member, Westminster, will compete in the tournament for the first time, and Ohio Athletic Conference members Mount Union and Ohio Northern will each appear in the event for a second time. All contests will take place at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium in the Henry Memorial Center on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College.
 
TOURNAMENT HISTORY: W&J women's basketball first hosted the tipoff tournament during the 2015-16 season, and have done so yearly, with the exception of the 2020-21 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In its first year of existence, the tournament was sponsored by the Hyatt Place-Pittsburgh South. From the 2016-17 season through the 2022-23 season, sponsorship rights belonged to the Springhill Suites. This year, the event is once again sponsored by the Hampton Inn by Hilton, marking the third consecutive season of partnership.

In its nine year history, the tournament has been favorable to the Red & Black, who boast a14-4 record, overall. In the 2017 edition of the event, W&J defeated Mount Union narrowly, 77-74. The Purple Raiders did pick up a win though, prevailing over Dickinson the night prior. Ohio Northern, however, was a perfect 2-0 in their only appearance in 2022. The Polar Bears defeated both W&J and La Roche during that trip to Washington. Key wins in the tipoff tournament, for W&J, including a victory over #19 Baldwin Wallace on day one of the tournament last season. The Presidents defeated Carnegie Mellon and Case Western Reserve, who both compete in the highly regarded University Athletic Association, in the 2019 Tip-Off Tournament. Four seasons later, in 2023–24, W&J secured another tournament victory over the Tartans, while also defeating RV Ohio Wesleyan that same year.
 
Tipoff Tournament Players to Watch
 
Mount Union
#3 Reese Triplett
#12 Mckayla Dunkle
#33 Elizabeth Mason
 
Ohio Northern
#2 Courtney Sumner
#4 Emerson Gray
#14 Logan Phillips
#34 Chole Glenn
 
W&J
#3 Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan)
#5 Riley DeRubbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity)
#14 Katie Kovalchick (Shelocta, Pa./Indiana Area)
 
Westminster
#0 Kennedy Arison
#20 Grace Cano
#21 Maddie Syka
#34 Katie Grexa
 
PROGRAM PINNACLE: The Washington & Jefferson Presidents 2024-25 campaign was their best in the 51-year history of women's basketball at the College. The team's 24 wins are tied for the most in a single season at W&J, and their thrilling overtime victory over #24 Messiah, in the first round of the national tournament, was the first NCAA tournament win in program history. W&J also secured their 13th conference tournament championship with a title-round triumph over Chatham.
 
DERUBBO DOMINANCE: Head Coach Jina DeRubbo enters her 22nd year on the W&J bench for the 2025-26 season. DeRubbo, who owns a 418-152 record leading the Presidents, has captured 3 Presidents' Athletic Conference titles in her time in Washington. She has been named the league's coach of the year 11 times throughout her career, and earned the award for a fourth consecutive season in 2024-25. Her squad's trip to the NCAA tournament a year ago, was the 13th time DeRubbo has guided one of her teams to the postseason. On a national level, DeRubbo ranks 16th among active coaches in Division III in wins.
 
LOST LEADERSHIP: W&J loses three players, to graduation, who were mainstays in the lineup for the last four seasons. Two-time PAC player of the year, Meghan Dryburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin), wrapped up her historic career with a third-straight first-team All-PAC nomination. Adalynn Cherry (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area), who earned three all-conference awards during her tenure, was named the PAC tournament's most outstanding player for her 19-point performance in the league's title game. 2022-23 All-PAC second-teamer Bryn Bezjak (Uniontown, Pa./Albert Gallatin), who started all but one game in her final years in Red & Black, also graduated from the program. All three graduates were two-time conference champions and compiled 94 victories during their time wearing the Red & Black. Both Dryburgh and Bezjak reached the 1,000-point mark during their careers, and Dryburgh finished her career as the program's leader in career rebounds with 1,198.
 
PAC PICTURE: The Presidents' Athletic Conference will look different for the 2025-26 season, as Hiram College begins its full-time membership in the league for the academic year. Additionally, the conference moves to a divisional set-up in both men's and women's basketball, with the North and South divisions consisting of 6 teams each. The conference's preseason coaches poll placed W&J at the top of the South division with 65 total points, and 10 first-place votes.
 
NATIONAL NUMBERS: The D3hoops.com preseason poll has the Presidents receiving 72 votes, resulting in a ranking that places W&J two spots shy of cracking the top 25. The Women's Basketball Coaches Association NCAA Division III Preseason Coaches' Poll also has W&J receiving votes but not ranked. W&J's 22 points in the WBCA poll puts the Presidents nine spots short of a national ranking.
 
PROVEN PRODUCTION: Katie Kovalchick (Shelocta, Pa./Indiana Area), Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan), and Riley DeRubbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) all return as key contributors from last year's championship team. Loutsion was tabbed as a first-team All-PAC selection at the conclusion of last season, while Kovalchick took home an All-PAC honorable mention award. DeRubbo, who was only available in the second half of the 2024-25 season, will now have a full season to impact the Presidents' performance, after spending her undergraduate years at the Division I level.
 
STRONG START: The Presidents picked up a victory in their first contest of the season this past Monday, against Penn State Behrend, in Erie, Pennsylvania. Graduate student Riley DeRubbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) led the W&J offense with a career-high 24 points and added seven rebounds and four steals. Four additional Presidents scored in double figures in the victory. W&J was impressive from beyond the arc and at the charity stripe, knocking down 10 of 21 three-point attempts (.476), sinking 20 of 24 free throws (.833).