GREENVILLE, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball team (17-6, 12-2) picked up an 85-55 road victory over the host Thiel Tomcats (6-17, 1-13) in Presidents' Athletic Conference play at Maenpa Court at Beeghly Gymnasium in Mercer County.

Marina Grado (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) led the Presidents with 13 points and four assists in just 18 minutes of work. Riley DeRubbo (Washington, Pa./Trinity) added 13 points and four steals. Katie Kovalchick (Shelocta, Pa./Indiana Area) also reached double digits with 11 points. A total of 12 different Presidents scored in the lopsided victory.

The Presidents rolled from the opening tip. Fresh off a frustrating overtime setback on Wednesday, W&J ripped off 33 points in the opening quarter. That output is the highest scoring quarter of the season for the Presidents.

Grado opened the scoring with a triple on the first Presidents' possession of the game. With the score evened up at 5-5, the visitors ripped off 13-straight points. The run included a pair of layups by Grado and concluded with a three-point play by DeRubbo, which made it 18-5 in favor of W&J at the 6:12 mark. Later in the quarter, DeRubbo extended the lead to 20 points, as another made three-pointer swelled the Presidents' lead to 27-7 with 3:42 remaining. Jacey Mullen (New Springfield, Ohio/Springfield Local) tacked on a pair of free throws to ensure a decisive 33-10 advantage after 10 minutes of play. W&J made 12-of-18 attempts (66.7 percent) from the field and three-of-field three-point attempts in the opening quarter.

Thing slowed down offensively in the second quarter for the Presidents. However, the Red and Black continued to lead comfortably. Consecutive layups by Jaden Wan (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock) and Grado pushed the lead to 41-17 at the 4:37 mark. W&J held a 44-22 advantage at halftime. Grado led all scorers at halftime with 11 points.

W&J converted at a 57.1 percent clip during the third quarter as they extended their lead further. A triple by Kovalchick extended the lead to 56-26 midway through the frame. Shannon Conley (West Mifflin, Pa./West Mifflin), Brooke Paylo (South Park, Pa./South Park) and Alayna Wagner (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks) each found the scoring column during the quarter as W&J led by a 64-36 score after the third.

With a healthy lead in hand, the W&J bench put together a solid fourth quarter. The Red and Black shot 64.2 percent over the final 10 minutes, which included a trio of made three-point field goals. Jellison accounted for eight points in the final quarter.

The 85 points is the highest single-game scoring output on the road for the Presidents this season. W&J made 52.3 percent of its attempts from the field. The Presidents forced the Tomcats to commit 21 turnovers and limited the hosts to 32.2 percent shooting.
 

The Presidents will conclude the regular season with a pair of home games next week against two teams jockeying for positioning in the league standings. W&J will first welcome Bethany College to the Salvitti Family Gymnasium on Wednesday (Feb. 18). Tip off for the critical PAC South division clash is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.