Presidents Open Season With 64-54 Triumph
ERIE, Pa. -- Junior forward Chelsea Apke (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) totaled 17 points and 12 rebounds in her Washington & Jefferson debut to help the Presidents earn a 64-54 victory over SUNY-Fredonia in the opening round of the Penn State-Behrend Tournament on Saturday night at the Junker Center.
The Presidents (1-0), who won their season opener for the first time since 2009-10, will now face the host Lions for the championship tomorrow at 3:00 pm. Apke, who transferred to W&J from Division I Presbyterian last year but sat out with an injury, made 6-of-10 shots from the floor and added three steals.
W&J led for nearly the entire game and jumped out to a 13-5 lead early on behind six points from Apke. The lead extended to nine points (20-11) after a three-pointer by junior guard Alex Bernardi (Saint Clair, Mich./Saint Clair) at the 9:07 mark, but Fredonia forced a 29-29 tie at halftime with a late run.
Jenna Austin drilled a triple early in the second half for a 32-31 Fredonia lead, but W&J regrouped and used a 10-2 spurt to build a 53-43 lead with 6:39 left. Senior guard Emily Abraham (Canfield, Ohio/Boardman) capped the run with a three-pointer. Fredonia could not bring its deficit to lower than six points the rest of the way and Apke and Abraham iced the game from the free throw line.
Washington & Jefferson shot 39 percent (20-of-52) and limited Fredonia to 29 percent (17-of-58), including 4-of-27 accuracy from three-point range. Sophomore center Valerie Dunlap (Hostetter, Pa./Latrobe) contributed 16 points, nine rebounds and five blocks, while Abraham collected 11 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.
Sabrina Macaulay was the only Fredonia player in double figures with 12 points. She scored all 12 at the free throw line (12-14).
