Presidents Cruise Past Chatham 69-37
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- Washington & Jefferson College limited Chatham to 17 percent shooting (11-62) and forced 22 turnovers en route to a 69-37 Presidents' Athletic Conference women's basketball victory Saturday in Pittsburgh.
W&J (16-7, 11-5) improved to 20-0 all-time against the Cougars (3-20, 2-14) and clinched a top-four seed in the upcoming PAC Tournament (Feb. 19-23). Each of the top four seeds will host first round games (Feb. 19).
Junior forward Chelsea Apke (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) led all scorers with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting (4-4 FT) and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, while also dishing out five assists. Freshman forward Beka Bellhy (McDonald, Pa./Fort Cherry) added 11 points and five boards, while sophomore center Valerie Dunlap (Hostetter, Pa./Latrobe) collected seven points, nine rebounds and five blocks.
W&J stormed out to an 11-0 advantage after four minutes and built a lead as large as 21 points during the first half before heading into halftime ahead 35-18. The Presidents allowed only four Cougar field goals on 30 attempts during the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half, sophomore forward Tori Bishop (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) jump started an 8-0 spurt with four-straight points and classmate Erin Lavery (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) capped the run with a jumper as W&J pushed the lead to 32. Lavery assisted on a Bishop layup at the 3:44 mark that gave the Presidents their biggest edge of the game at 33 points.
W&J connected on 42 percent (27-64) of its field goal attempts and held a 51-39 advantage on the glass. Bishop netted eight points and grabbed six boards, while sophomore guard Alexa Del Greco (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton La Salle) tallied seven points. Junior guard Alexa Burzese (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) handed out a career-high six assists and freshman forward Andrea Kronthal (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra) snagged a career-best six boards.
Emily Schmidt was the lone Cougar in double figures with 15 points, while Marguerite Sargent pulled down 10 rebounds. Chatham canned 13-of-14 free throws, but connected on just 2-of-14 attempts from beyond the arc.
W&J travels to Geneva on Wednesday for its final regular-season road game at 5:30.
