W&J Women Edged Late By Grove City
GROVE CITY, Pa. - The Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball team dropped its second-straight road game by a score of 68-65 to Grove City on Wednesday evening at the Grove City College Arena.
W&J saw its record drop to 7-7 (2-5 PAC), while the Wolverines now sit at 4-10 (3-4).
The Presidents trailed by four points during the early going, but a quick 10-2 spurt gave W&J a 20-16 advantage. A jumper by freshman guard Alexa DelGreco (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton LaSalle) gave W&J the lead and sophomore Alexa Burzese (Sewickley, Pa./Quaker Valley) and senior Kayla Strimel (Morgantown, W. Va./University) both followed with baskets to aid in the run.
The lead would change hands three more times before Grove City took a 30-28 advantage into halftime.
Senior Blair Cotton (Pittsburgh, Pa./Oakland Catholic) helped rally the Presidents in the second half with a pair of three-pointers that book-ended a triple from junior Emily Abraham (Canfield, Ohio/Boardman), giving W&J a 48-42 lead with 13:48 remaining.
The Wolverines countered the Presidents’ surge and took a three-point advantage with four minutes to play. Senior Ashley Kirkpatrick (Sharon, Pa./Kennedy Catholic) converted back-to-back layups to hand the lead back to the Presidents.
Grove City again had an answer for the Presidents, this time a quick 6-0 run to give it a five-point lead that it would never relinquish. The Wolverines hit 5-of-6 free throws and W&J was unable to convert on the offensive end in the final minute, allowing Grove City to escape with a three-point victory.
Cotton led the Presidents with 15 points on 6-of-14 shooting. She also added five rebounds.
Abraham and Walsh both contributed 13 points, while Kirkpatrick added nine points and 13 boards.
The Presidents shot 37 percent (25-67) during the game and held a slight 40-36 edge on the glass.
Grove City, which hit 46 percent (23-50) of its shots, was led by Leah Gibson, who scored 17 points.
The Presidents visit Beaver Falls, Pa. on Saturday to face Geneva at 1:00 pm.
