BETHANY, W.Va. -- The Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball drained a season-high 12 three-pointers and four players scored in double figures as the Red and Black recorded an 83-61 victory over Bethany College Saturday in Presidents' Athletic Conference play.

The win improves the Presidents to 10-5 overall and 5-2 in league play. The loss drops the Bison to 3-13 overall and 2-5 in conference contests.

Alie Seto (Allison, Pa./Brownsville) led the way with a 22-point effort, one point shy of matching her season-high. Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) put together another strong performance, as the junior guard finished with 18 points.

Maddie Gutierrez (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) and Catherine Martin (Blairsville, Pa./Blairsville) finished with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.

The Bison took advantage of a slow start by the Presidents, as the home team jumped out to an early 7-0 lead before Gilbert knocked down a three-point field to get the road team onto the scoreboard. Just past the midway point of the first quarter, Bethany used back-to-back field goals to stretch its lead to 14-8 at the 3:58 mark.

However, the Presidents turned up the tempo of the game with half court pressure that allowed them to rattle off the final 10 points of the first quarter. The run was started by a steal and layup by Gilbert. After two free throws by Seto, Gilbert tacked on another three-point basket to give the Presidents a 15-14 advantage with 1:35 left in the frame. Seto finished off the quarter with an old fashioned three-point play with just less than a second showing on the clock. The three-point play extended the W&J lead to 18-14 after the first.

The Presidents' run spilled into the second quarter, Gutierrez made a jumper on the opening possession of the frame. Seto followed with consecutive layups to extend the W&J lead to double digits at 24-14. Those baskets extended the W&J run to 16 straight points over a six-plus minute span.

Back-to-back three-point makes by Gutierrez pushed the Presidents edge to 33-20 with 4:04 to play in the half. The Bison were able to use a three-point play of their own in the waning seconds of the second to draw within 10 at halftime, as the Presidents took a 35-25 lead into break.

Seto (11), Gilbert (10) and Gutierrez (9) combined for 30 of the 35 first half points for the Presidents.

The visitors would continue to click offensively in the third quarter, as the Red and Black outscored the Bison by a 27-16 margin in the frame.

A layup by the Bison cut the deficit to 47-37 at the 4:32 mark. The Presidents effectively put the game away with a 15-4 run to close the third quarter. Seto recorded six of the 15 points during that run by the Presidents. Senior guard Megan Williams (Bay Village, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy) capped the third quarter with a steal and layup to make the score 62-41 heading to the fourth quarter.

The Presidents maintained a substantial lead throughout the fourth. Sophomore guard Tori Boalton (Boyertown, Pa./Boyertown Area) drained a triple to extend the Presidents lead to 71-48 at the 6:02 mark. Martin tallied 10 fourth quarter points, draining a trio of triples to help the Presidents ease their way to victory.

Three players scored in double figures for the Bison. However, the home team converted just 4-of-17 attempts from behind the three-point line and committed 23 turnovers.  
The Presidents return to Salvitti Family Gymnasium for the first of two straight PAC games when they host Grove City for a conference showdown on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Start time is scheduled for 6 p.m.