LATROBE, Pa. – Senior point guard Adalynn Cherry (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) fired in a career-high 22 points and the Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball turned in another lockdown defensive effort to secure a 53-36 win over Saint Vincent in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game Saturday afternoon at the Robert S. Carey Center in Westmoreland County.

The win improves the Presidents to 19-3 overall and 16-1 in the PAC. The loss drops Saint Vincent to 12-9 overall and 11-5 in the conference.  

Cherry, often counted upon to set up her teammates on the offensive end, had a shooting performance to remember on Saturday. The senior collected career highs in both points (22) and made three-point field goals (six). Cherry made eight of 13 field goal attempts overall. She proved especially lethal from deep, as she knocked down six triples on eight attempts. Cherry also added eight rebounds in the victory.

The two teams battled through a rough and physical opening 10 minutes of play. The game was evened up at 4-4 through the first media timeout at the first quarter's midway point. Cherry knocked down a triple and junior guard Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) followed with a fast break layup to stake W&J to a 9-4 lead. Following a pair of free throws by Saint Vincent, Cherry drained her second three-pointer of the quarter. The Cherry triple made it 12-6 at the 2:34 mark. Cherry tacked on a driving layup late in the first to strengthen the Presidents' lead to 14-9 after 10 minutes of play. Cherry fueled the Presidents with 10 first quarter points.

After a two-plus minute stretch of scoreless play, Saint Vincent opened the second quarter with a three-point field goal to close within a pair at 14-12. However, the Presidents turned up their defensive efforts further and held the Bearcats scoreless for seven minutes. Loutsion answered with a triple on W&J's next possession. The Presidents then had free throw makes by graduate student Riley DeRubbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) and sophomore center Katie Kovalchick (Shelocta, Pa./Indiana Area) to extend the lead to 21-12 with 2:57 left in the half.

DeRubbo added two more field goals with strong finishes down low to push the advantage into double digits for W&J. Saint Vincent ended the scoring drought with a layup with 51 seconds remaining before the break.

The Presidents held a 25-14 lead after 20 minutes of play. W&J converted 31 percent of its field goal attempts (9-of-29) while Saint Vincent made just 4-of-29 attempts (13.8 percent) in the first half. Both teams limited the opposition's second chance opportunities in the first half. The two teams pulled down three offensive rebounds each. Senior guard Meghan Dryburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) led W&J's efforts on the glass with 11 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes.

The Presidents put together their most productive offensive quarter of the game in the third. Loutsion opened the quarter with a steal that eventually led to a three-point play the old-fashioned way on the other end. Some four-plus minutes later, Cherry knocked down another triple and Dryburgh added an offensive rebound and putback to extend the W&J lead to 36-18 at the 5:24 mark. Cherry added two more triples in the quarter. The fifth made triple of the game for Cherry put the W&J advantage at 42-21 with 1:29 remaining in the third. The Presidents carried a 42-24 lead into the fourth quarter.

Saint Vincent opened the fourth quarter with a 7-2 run to cut into W&J's lead. The Presidents responded with post up baskets from Loutsion and Kovalchick to extend the advantage to 48-31 with 3:29 to play. Cherry buried her personal best sixth triple of the game with 1:37 showing on the fourth quarter clock to finish off the victory.

Loutsion joined Cherry in double figures with 13 points. DeRubbo tallied eight points off the bench. Dryburgh posted another strong effort on the glass with a game-high 18 rebounds.

W&J held Saint Vincent to a season-low 36 points on a season-low 21.4 percent shooting from the field. The Presidents limited the Bearcats to 12 made field goals over 40 minutes of play.

The Presidents welcome Allegheny for a PAC showdown on Wednesday (Feb. 12). Start time is scheduled for 6 p.m. inside Salvitti Family Gymnasium.