Strong Defensive Effort Pushes W&J Past Chatham
WASHINGTON, Pa. -- Washington & Jefferson College limited Chatham to 16 percent (8-49) shooting and forced 28 turnovers during a 61-27 Presidents’ Athletic Conference women’s basketball victory at the Henry Memorial Center on Saturday afternoon.
W&J (9-4, 4-2) improved to 19-0 all-time against the Cougars (2-11, 1-5), and held an opponent below 30 points for the first time since it downed Hood 67-24 on Dec. 30, 2006.
Sophomore center Valerie Dunlap’s (Hostetter, Pa./Latrobe) jumper at the 14:31 mark of the first half broke a 6-6 tie and ignited a 13-0 run for the Presidents. W&J would hold a double-figure lead for the remainder of the game.
The W&J defense clamped down on the Cougars, holding them to one made field goal during the final 15:33 of the first half and the Presidents entered intermission with a 32-13 advantage.
The Presidents’ lead grew to as large as 34 points during the final 20 minutes and W&J cruised to a 61-27 victory. Its 34-point margin of victory was the biggest since it defeated Chatham by 38 points last season.
Junior Chelsea Apke (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) posted her seventh double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds in 18 minutes of action. Apke canned 6-of-10 shots from the field and added four assists and two steals.
Senior guard Emily Abraham (Canfield, Ohio/Boardman) and sophomore guard Alexa DelGreco (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle) both contributed eight points. DelGreco also tallied five assists, five rebounds and four steals. In all, 11 different Presidents recorded at least one made basket. W&J made 33 percent (26-77) of its field-goal attempts and outrebounded the Cougars 52-44.
Emily Schmidt led Chatham with 10 points, while Carly Zelenak pulled down 10 rebounds.
W&J visits Grove City on Wednesday at 6:00 pm for the first game of a PAC doubleheader.
