WASHINGTON, Pa. – Powered by an extended game-opening run, the Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball team secured a 66-52 victory over visiting Bethany College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon on Alumni Day at Salvitti Gymnasium. 
 
The win keeps W&J unblemished at home this season. The Presidents improve to 11-0 inside Salvitti Gym in 2024-25. W&J improves to 17-3 overall and 14-1 in the PAC. The loss drops Bethany to at 7-7 in the conference and 10-9 overall. 
 
W&J jumped out to a sizable early lead behind strong offensive execution and stingy defense. Consecutive layups by Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) pushed W&J out to an early 4-0 lead. Following a basket by Bethany, the Presidents ripped off 12-straight points over the next five-plus minutes to strengthen the lead to 16-2 with 2:54 to play in the first. 
 
Kovalchick kick-started the run with a three-point play at the 7:18 mark. Loutsion capped the run with a triple that pushed the lead to 14 points with 2:54 to play in the opening quarter. The Bison responded with seven-straight points to trim the deficit in half. Jacey Mullen (New Springfield, Ohio/Springfield Local) drained a pair of free throws to make it an 18-9 W&J lead at the close of the opening quarter. 
 
Loutsion added to the lead with a layup on the Presidents' first possession of the second quarter. A few minutes later, W&J moved its lead to 24-12 at the seven-minute mark with consecutive layups by Katie Kovalchick (Shelocta, Pa./Indiana Area) and Meghan Dryburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin). 
 
W&J extended its lead to 32-16 when Dryburgh made a layup at the 2:45 mark. Bethany answered with a 7-0 run to cut the W&J lead into single digits. A steal by Marina Grado (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) led to a layup by Raegan Kadlecik (McKees Rocks, Pa./Montour) with 26 seconds to play to make the W&J lead 34-23 at halftime. 
 
The Presidents effectively put the game away with an 11-3 spurt to open the third quarter. A jumper by Adalynn Cherry (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) and free throws by Riley DeRubbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) extended the lead to 45-26 at the 4:47 mark. 
 
Layups by Cherry and Loutsion stretched the lead to 51-28 with 1:52 left in the third. Kadlecik added a layup to put W&J up 54-35 heading to the fourth. 
 
Halena Hill (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) found the scoring column in the fourth quarter. Hill knocked down a three-point field goal with 6:37 to go to make the lead 60-39. The Presidents maintained control down the stretch. Emily Mountain (Youngstown, N.Y./Lewport) concluded the scoring for W&J with a layup in the final minute. 
 
W&J held advantages in points in the paint (40-28), points off turnovers (21-11) and turnover differential (22-14). The Presidents continued their strong defensive efforts, limiting the Bison to 2-of-23 from three-point range. 
 
Loutsion turned in a strong all-around game with a team-high 16 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Kovalchick finished with 12 points. Dryburgh finished with a game-high 13 rebounds and three rebounds. 
 
W&J travels to Geneva on Wednesday (Feb. 5) with a start time of 5:30 p.m.