WASHINGTON, Pa. -- In a highly touted matchup of two teams receiving votes in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25 poll, the Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball team (6-1, 1-0 PAC) erased a halftime deficit to secure a 61-52 victory over visiting Chatham University (6-2, 0-1 PAC) Wednesday evening in the Presidents' Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Junior center Katie Kovalchick (Shelocta, Pa./Indiana Area) finished with a season-high 22 points. Kovalchick added five rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals to her stat totals. Graduate guard Riley DeRubbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) registered a double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) reached double figures with 11 points. Junior point guard Marina Grado (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) played a strong game. Grado finished with nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals in directing the Presidents.

W&J pushed out to an early 8-0 lead behind a strong start. Loutsion scored on the game's opening possession. DeRubbo and Grado drained consecutive three-point field goals to bolster the early game lead. Chatham quickly worked back into the thick of things. Following a layup by Kovalchick that made it 10-5, the Cougars ripped off seven-straight points to take their first lead at 12-10. Chatham carried a 14-13 lead into the second quarter.

The Cougars stymied the Presidents at times in the second quarter. Chatham limited W&J to just three field goals in the frame. The Cougars surged in front behind 10 consecutive points. A layup at the 1:18 mark of the quarter gave Chatham its largest lead of the night at 30-22. Freshman forward Michelle Jellison (Monongahela, Pa./Elizabeth Forward) provided a much-needed boost. Jellison converted a driving layup to cut the Chatham lead to six at halftime.  

Faced with a halftime deficit, W&J responded with a strong showing in the third quarter. The Presidents outscored the Cougars by a 19-6 margin in the quarter. W&J turned to its defense in the third quarter, as they were able to hold Chatham without a field goal for the entirety of the 10-minute period. W&J used field goals by Jellison and Kovalchick to regain the lead at 34-32 at the 4:18 mark. The Presidents closed the quarter with nine of the final 11 points. A three-point field goal by DeRubbo gave W&J a 43-36 advantage heading into the fourth.

Chatham didn't go away over the final 10 minutes. The Cougars found their shot from behind the three-point line in the fourth and tied the score twice. However, Kovalchick proved pivotal down the stretch. She scored 16 of her 22 points during the second half. The President scored the game's final nine points to secure the win.

In a defensive minded contest, W&J made 37.7 percent from the field. Chatham converted at a 31.6 percent clip. The Presidents found their footing in the second half, making 15-of-29 attempts.

The Presidents turned in a decided advantage on the glass, out-rebounding the Cougars by a 48-35 margin. The two teams combined for 34 turnovers.

W&J heads to Franciscan University of Steubenville on Saturday (Dec. 6) for a conference game. The scheduled start time in Ohio is 1 p.m.