BETHANY, W.Va. – Senior forward Danielle Parker (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and sophomore forward Alie Seto(Allison, Pa./Brownsville) combined for 36 points in a 66-56 win over Bethany College in Presidents' Athletic Conference.
The victory was the eighth straight on the road for W&J, who improves to 12-3 in PAC play and 17-7 overall. The Presidents finished the PAC road schedule with a perfect 8-0 record.
The loss drops Bethany to 7-8 in league play and 12-12 overall. Bethany entered the contest with just one home loss in conference play.
Powered by efficient offense and turnovers by W&J, the host Bison built an early 12-6 advantage at the 4:36 mark of the first quarter. After an offensive rebound and putback by Seto trimmed the deficit to four points, Bethany scored on back-to-back possessions to take an eight-point edge to force a W&J timeout.
A three-pointer by Parker followed by a jumper from sophomore forward Maria Lawhorne (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) cut the Bison lead to 16-13. However, the home team added three points to hold a 19-13 advantage after the first.
W&J turned things around in the second, outscoring the home team by a 21-8 margin to take a 34-27 lead into halftime. The Presidents shot 63.6 percent (seven-of-11) and converted six-of-eight free throw attempts while holding the Bison to just four-of-13 from the field during the 10 minutes.
Three straight free throws by Lawhorne and a layup by Parker gave W&J its first lead at 27-25 with 4:18 left in the quarter. The Presidents tacked on seven of the next nine points, including a pair of free throws by sophomore guard Hannah Johnston(East Freedom, Pa./Central) just before the break.
Bethany drained a three-pointer to open the third quarter, cutting its deficit to 34-30. However, the Presidents countered with a 12-0 run to swell the lead to 46-30, capped by a steal and layup by sophomore guard Brooke McCleester (Johnstown, Pa./Conemaugh Valley). An offensive rebound and putback by Lawhorne made it 52-37 after three quarters of play.
Back-to-back triples by Parker gave W&J a 62-47 edge with 4:30 to play. From there, the Presidents went without a field goal for more than four minutes. During that time the Bison used a 9-2 run to trim the deficit back into single digits. However, W&J closed the game out with a pair of free throw makes by McCleester.
For the game, W&J converted 44.7 percent (21-of-47) field goals and 79.2 percent (19-of-24) at the free throw line. The Presidents also held advantages in rebounding (43-30) and steals (10-8).
Lawhorne finished with 11 points to round out the trio of double figure scorers for W&J. Freshman guard Aleena McDaniel(Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) recorded a season-high 10 rebounds while Seto and Parker pulled down seven each. Parker added a game-high three blocks while McCleester registered a career-best five steals.
W&J wraps up the regular season with Senior Day against Grove City on Saturday, Feb. 16. Parker and Jordan Melko will be honored prior to the contest with the Wolverines. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.