WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball team built a 14-point first half lead and held off a second half rally from Carnegie Mellon to win 60-55 in the second day of Springhill Suites Tip-Off Tournament.
 
Sophomore Aleena McDaniel (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) and junior Alie Seto (Allison, Pa./Brownsville) were named to the Springhill Suites All-Tournament team with McDaniel also claiming Most Valuable Player honors. The Presidents and Otterbein both went 2-0 at the event and each claimed two spots on the All-Tournament team.
 
The Presidents scored the first eight points of the contest with three pointers by Piper Morningstar (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and Seto, along with two free throws by McDaniel.
 
The Tartans trimmed the deficit to 8-6 before a three-point play by Laruen Gilbert and a three-point make by Tori Boalton (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown Area) pushed the Presidents ahead 14-6 with 4:39 left in the quarter. Catherine Martin's (Blairsville, Pa./Blairsville) free throws at the end of the period gave W&J a 16-12 advantage heading into the second quarter.
 
Like the first quarter, W&J scored the first seven points of the second quarter on a three from Hannah Johnston (East Freedom, Pa./Central) and jumpers by Gilbert and McDaniel. Seto reeled off five straight points before a Morningstar gave the Presidents their largest lead at 31-17 with 3:21 remaining in the first half.
 
The Presidents outscored CMU 17-10 in the second quarter thanks to stingy defensive effort. The Red and Black held the Tartans to three-of-15 (20%) shooting from the field over that span.
 
After holding a 33-22 halftime lead, W&J's shooting went cold in the third quarter. The Presidents shot 18.2% (two-of-11) for the quarter with six turnovers. CMU closed the third quarter on a 13-4 spurt that cut the W&J lead to 40-37 heading to the fourth.
 
In the final quarter, CMU came within one several times before tying the game at 47 and 49. Each time, the Presidents responded with a Gilbert jumper and a Seto three-point play.
 
Gilbert stepped back for a clutch three-pointer with 1:39 remaining to hand the Presidents a 57-53 lead.
 
Following a McDaniel free throw, CMU had the basketball down three with under 10 seconds remaining, but the game-tying shot missed the mark and Gilbert knocked down two free throws to secure the win.
 
Gilbert scored 10 of her season-high 15 points in the fourth quarter. Seto finished with 19 points and three steals. McDaniel filled the stat sheet with seven points, eight rebounds, six assists and a steal.
 
Morningstar connected on three triples and finished with 11 points and two blocks in a team-high 35 minutes.
 
The Presidents never trailed in the contest. W&J connected on nine-of-28 (32.1%) three point attempts while holding CMU 0-of-15 from beyond the arc.
 
W&J (3-0) heads to Marietta on Wednesday evening for its first away game of the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
 
Springhill Suites All-Tournament Team:
- Aleena McDaniel, W&J (MVP)
- Alie Seto, W&J
- Abbie Scholz, Otterbein
- Delaney Cutteridge, Otterbein
- Abbey Lawrence, Case Western