Box Score
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (Feb. 3) – Waynesburg’s only two free throw attempts on Wednesday night proved to be the game-clinching shots for the Yellow Jacket women as they won a thrilling 58-55 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) contest at Westminster on Wednesday night.
Sophomore Hannah Hunter coolly knocked down a pair of tries from the charity stripe with 12 seconds showing on the clock to ice the win that improved the Jackets’ overall record to 7-13, and boosted their conference mark to 4-7. The loss dropped Westminster to 7-13 on the year and 5-5 in conference action.
The first half was a tightly-contested defensive struggle as both schools seemed out of sink offensively.
The Yellow Jackets and Titans both had their struggles from the floor, as Waynesburg connected on 11-of-34 field goal tries (32 percent), while the Titans made 10-of-28 attempts (36 percent). However, the Jackets were effective at protecting the ball, giving up just six turnovers, to Westminster’s 12.
What offense Waynesburg found in the first half came from beyond the three-point arc. The Jackets fired up19 of their first 34 shot attempts from beyond the three-point arc, as compared to just eight tries from downtown by Westminster. The Yellow Jackets managed to hit on six of those attempts, with half of those being made by sophomore guard Morgan Hoone, who led all scorers at the half with nine points at the break. Hunter added eight through the first 20 minutes.
After the second half got underway, Waynesburg continued its barrage from downtown by knocking down four tries from beyond the three-point arc. After briefly spotting the Titans a four-point lead (34-30) four minutes into the period, the Jackets responded with a 13-3 run that put the road team back on top by the score of 43-37 with 13:00 to go.
Waynesburg never trailed throughout the rest of the game, although Westminster was able to tie the game at 53-53 with 1:43 left on the clock. After a three-pointer by senior Johnna Deco pushed Waynesburg ahead 56-53, the Titans responded with a hoop that cut the deficit down to one point. However, a steal by Deco with 23 seconds left, forced Westminster to foul three times and eventually put Hunter to the line for the game-winning shots.
The visiting team got a stellar effort Hoone, who poured in a team-high 17 points on six-of-11 shooting from the floor. She also knocked down five-of-10 attempts from beyond the three-point arc. Junior forward Elisha Jones chipped in 12 points, and Hunter added 13 points and a game-high nine assists.
Westminster also featured a trio of double-digit scorers, including senior Amy Dolsak, who racked up a game-high 18 points.
Waynesburg returns home to the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse on Saturday for a PAC showdown with Thiel, which is scheduled to tip off at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday’s game was the fourth-straight on the road for the Jackets.