Waynesburg women fall in ECAC semifinals
WASHINGTON, Pa. — Despite leading for most of the first seven minutes of the game, seventh-seeded Waynesburg University relinquished its lead at the 2:40 mark in the first quarter and trailed for the rest of the game in an 83-75 loss to third-seeded Stevenson University in the semifinals of the ECAC Division III Women’s Basketball Championship played at Washington & Jefferson on Saturday night.
The Mustangs advanced the title game and defeated host and top-seeded Washington & Jefferson.
“Our first half was a little shaky,” Waynesburg senior guard Lauren Blair said. “We came out in the second half wanting to win this game and we fell short. We were so close. We just couldn’t stop them on defense. We were making shots and we had the energy in our favor, but we weren’t getting stops. Defense wins championships and unfortunately we didn’t get it done on the defensive end.”
Junior forward Sara Tarbert scored 38 points on 14-of-25 shooting, while grabbing nine rebounds. Tarbert tallied eight of her points from the free throw line on 11 attempts.
“In the fourth quarter coach told us to double down on her when she caught the ball in the post,” Blair said.
“She is a great player. She did it all. By doubling down and holding on our own, we slowed her down a little in the fourth quarter. But, it just wasn’t enough.”
Stevenson ended the first quarter on an 11-2 run to go into the second quarter ahead 15-9. Stevenson went on a 10-0 run at the start of the second quarter to increase its lead to 27-12.
Waynesburg strung a few baskets together to end the second quarter to go into halftime down 34-26.
“We struggled the first half,” Waynesburg head coach Sam Jones said. “We didn’t take care of the ball, didn’t shoot well, didn’t rebound well, but we were able to turn things around.”
Waynesburg trailed 57-49 going into the fourth quarter, but a few baskets, including two 3-pointers from Blair, brought the Yellow Jackets to within two points of the Mustangs.
“We kept fighting and we never gave up. I was proud of my team for that,” Blair said. “We were pounding it inside and when they took that away we looked for our outside game.”
Blair scored 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting, 6-of-13 from behind the 3-point arc, while also assisting eight field goals. Four of Blair’s 3-pointers were in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore forward Addy Knetzer led the Jackets with 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting, while snagging eight rebounds. Senior forward Heather Davis, who led Waynesburg with a career-high 28 points in Wednesday’s first-round win, scored 13 points in the game.
Stevenson sophomore forward Kaitlyn VanTash and senior guard/forward Caitlin Roy scored 14 points and 10 points, respectively.
VanTash also grabbed eight rebounds in the game, as the Mustangs outrebounded the Jackets, 45-29.