CLEVELAND – A game-high 19 points from senior guard Evy Iacono (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) along with a dominant defensive effort in the first half led the way as the Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team defeated Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.), 72-52, on Thursday evening at Horsburgh Gymnasium.
The Spartans, who haven't trailed for two-straight games, improve to 5-3 overall heading into the Hoops for Hope Tournament next Saturday and Sunday, December 29-30, in Delaware, Ohio. With the loss, the Presidents drop to 6-3.
Iacono, who was honored prior to tip-off in honor of her 1,000th career point last month, also contributed five boards and five assists.
Senior point guard Erica Iafelice (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) and sophomore forward Berit Eppard (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek) also scored in double figures with 11 points each. Iafelice dished out a game-high seven assists, and Eppard was one of three Spartans to secure seven rebounds.
Case's defense held the visitors to just 17.6 percent shooting from the field in the first half and forced scoreless streaks of 4:10 and 9:51.
The Spartans scored the first seven of the game and held W&J without a point for the opening 4:10 of action en route to building a 9-2 advantage as Eppard scored a fast-break layup at the 15:41 mark. The Presidents answered with a pair of three-pointers from Erin Lavery at 15:23 and Emily Abraham at 14:29, but Eppard completed an "old-fashioned" three-point play at 14:09 to increase the Spartan lead to 12-8. W&J then forced the only tie of the game at 12-12 when Valerie Dunlap closed a 10-3 run with a jumper at 13:21.
From there, it was all Spartans as back-to-back triples from Iacono at 12:42 and Iafelice at 11:38 sparked a 16-0 run that culminated in a layup from sophomore guard Brooke Orcutt (Morrison, Colo./Dakota Ridge) with 4:30 left in the half. Overall, Case held the visitors scoreless for 9:51 and without a field goal for 11:20. The Presidents were only able to trim two off of their deficit, and the Spartans led 34-20 at halftime.
In the second half, the Spartan lead grew to 18, 40-22, following an Eppard layup with 17:05 left to play. The Presidents came back with eight straight and pulled to within a 40-30 score after an Abraham triple at 15:01, but Case never let its advantage dip below 10 the rest of the way.
Sophomore guards Amanda Germer (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) and Rachel Beaty (Carrollton, Texas/Hebron) each provided key three-pointers off of the bench to help thwart the W&J comeback bid. Case's lead reached a high of 20 on three occasions in the final minutes.
For the game, the Spartans totaled a season-high 28 assists with helpers on each of the team's first 26 buckets.
W&J was led by Abraham with 16 points.
The Spartans open next weekend in Delaware versus host Ohio Wesleyan University at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday inside Branch Rickey Arena. Case then closes the tournament versus Westminster College (Mo.) on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.