WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson women's basketball team used a stifling defensive effort to defeat Grove City by a 62-40 score Wednesday night in the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament Semifinals at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.
Alie Seto (Allison, Pa./Brownsville) poured in a game-high 19 points. Seto tallied eight rebounds, four steals and a pair of blocks. Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) added 17 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Hannah Johnston (East Freedom, Pa./Central) registered her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Johnston was a big part of W&J's defensive efforts and added four steals on the evening.
Grove City, who entered the game as the PAC leader in points per game, had no answer in solving the W&J defense. The Wolverines made just 16-of-63 shots (25.4 percent), connected on just one-of-14 three-pointers and committed 17 turnovers. W&J finished the game with a 54-30 rebounding edge.
The win improves W&J to 8-0 overall and puts the Presidents into the PAC title game for a fourth straight season. The Presidents own five PAC titles, with its most recent coming in 2006. W&J will travel to Saint Vincent in Saturday's championship game at the Carey Center. Grove City, who narrowly edged W&J in last year's title game, falls to 8-2. W&J finished the game with a 54-30 rebounding edge
Trailing 21-17 early in the second quarter, an 11-0 second quarter W&J run helped the Presidents forge a 31-25 halftime lead. Seto and Gilbert accounted for all 11 points during the run.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Gilbert and Victoria Koeck (Sidman, Pa./Forest Hills) extended the lead into double figures (46-34) with 38 seconds left in the third.
Leading by 10 (46-36) going into the fourth, W&J outscored Grove City 12-0 over the final four minutes to pick up the 22-point win.
Maria Lawhorne (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) finished with seven points and nine rebounds. Koeck had five points, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks off of the bench.
Wednesday marked the sixth meeting between W&J and Grove City in the PAC Tournament. They matched up for the third consecutive PAC Tournament. The two teams had split the previous matchups.
W&J was hosting its first PAC Tournament semifinal game since 2006. The Presidents advanced to the PAC Semifinal round for a ninth consecutive season.