Feb 13, 2014 By John Lydic editorial Assistant 3 min read

Foul trouble was no problem for the Waynesburg women’s team as the bench carried the Yellow Jackets to an 80-69 win over Thiel Wednesday night.

Despite starters Courtney Sargent and Lauren Blair were exiting the game during the second half due to foul trouble, reserves Rachel Lovely and Katie Gehlmann propelled Waynesburg (12-10, 10-5) to a win over the visiting Tomcats.

“The depth we have on this team is amazing,” said senior Elaine Hasek. “[Lovely] did a great job tonight against [Jaclyn Watkins]. Gehlmann did a great job too. She is able to come in and give Lauren a break from playing or if she gets into foul trouble.”

Waynesburg opened the game trading chances with Thiel, as neither team was able to gain control of the game.

“There were a lot of loose balls that we weren’t able to squeeze down,” said Waynesburg head coach Sam Jones. “We didn’t take advantage of a couple of opportunities to take a big lead.”

Each team held the lead at some point in the first half, but it was Waynesburg’s 3-point shooting that propelled it to a 48-37 lead at half time. Waynesburg shot eight-for-10 in the first half from behind the 3-point arc.

“We were just hitting them early, so the girls just continued to shoot them,” said Jones. “It’s always a part of our offense because we have great shooters; but I think really it’s because we were hitting them. People kept shooting them.”

Hasek and Hayden Giuliani led Waynesburg in scoring at the half, each with nine points.

Thiel matched Waynesburg by the getting contributions from Watkins and Erin DiFalco, who chipped in nine points of their own.

As the second half got underway, Waynesburg ran a 9-0 opening run by Thiel to cut the Yellow Jackets lead to two.

“I think we just settled early, said Jones. “We settled early because they were all falling for us in the first half.”

To couple with the slow start, Blair and Sargent each got into early foul trouble, which forced them to the bench in the opening minutes of the second half. Lovely and Gehlmann allowed Waynesburg to hold its lead as they were able to come in and give Waynesburg nine and eight points, respectively.

Sargent and Blair checked back into the game with six minutes remaining, but each picked up their fifth fouls within a minute of returning. Lovely and Gehlmann kept Waynesburg afloat in the final five minutes of play, maintaining a 72-63.

Waynesburg was able to limit Watkins and the rest of the Tomcats in the closing minutes of the second half. Hasek and Heather Davis were also key contributors, adding 15 and 14 points in the winning effort.

With the win, Waynesburg remains in contention for a top four spot in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference, and a chance to host a home playoff game in the opening round of the PAC Tournament.

“We got to beat Westminster Saturday,” said Jones. “Win Saturday and go from there.”