GAMBIER, Ohio -- Despite rallying back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to take the lead, the Washington & Jefferson women's basketball team suffered a 72-66 loss on the road in non-conference play Saturday at Kenyon College.

Junior forward Alie Seto (Allison, Pa./Brownsville) led the Presidents with a team-high 23 points, eight rebounds and three steals in the setback. The 23 points matched a season-high for Seto. Junior guard Hannah Johnston (East Freedom, Pa./Central) used an efficient shooting effort, as she connected on 5-of-6 field goal attempts to finish with 14 points.

The loss snapped the Presidents' season-high five-game winning streak. W&J drops to 15-8 overall. The win improves Kenyon to 10-13 for the season.

Trailing by a 63-53 margin with just 6:08 to play, Seto got to work on the offensive end to help the Presidents put together an 11-0 run. After a pair of successful free throws, the junior grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a layup and free throw to close the deficit to five (63-57) at the 4:16 mark.  

Seto then recorded a steal that led to a layup by sophomore Maddie Gutierrez (Bridgeville, Pa./South Fayette) on the other end. The Gutierrez basket trimmed the deficit to 63-60. Four more points from Seto gave the Presidents a 64-63 lead with just 2:31 to play. After a three-pointer put Kenyon back in front at 66-64, Seto responded with a layup to tie the score at 66-66 with 56 seconds left.

The host Ladies finished off the victory with the final six points, which included the go-ahead three by Paige Matijasich with 36 seconds left.

Kenyon built an early 15-4 lead after a three-pointer by Grace Connery with 3:54 to play in the first quarter. The Presidents responded with a 13-4 spurt to trim the deficit to 19-17 after 10 minutes of play. Johnston started the run with an old fashioned three-point play before sinking a jumper on the final possession of the quarter to bring the Presidents back within two.

Seto evened the score at 19-19 with a layup on the first possession of the second quarter for W&J. However, the host Ladies of Kenyon, extended the lead back to as many as seven points on three difference occasions in the frame. A late jumper by Johnston just before the halftime buzzer allowed the Presidents to trim the deficit to 35-31 as the two teams entered the break.

Junior forward Maria Lawhorne (Pittsburgh, Pa./Plum) and Johnston registered layups on back-to-back possessions to bring the Presidents within three (38-35) early in the third quarter. Kenyon would respond by scoring seven of the next nine points to extend the lead to 45-37 at the 5:13 mark. The home team would continue to lead for the remainder of the frame before taking a 54-47 edge into the fourth.

Back-to-back triples by junior guard Lauren Gilbert (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and Gutierrez narrowed the Kenyon lead to 55-53 with 8:06 to play in regulation. That is when the host Ladies recorded eight straight points to push the advantage into double digits at 63-53 with 6:08 to play.

Aside from the strong performances by Seto and Johnston, it was Gutierrez who chipped in seven points, six rebounds and two assists off the bench. Matijasich led all scorers with 24 points for Kenyon.

Three-point shooting played a big role in the win for Kenyon, as the Ladies converted 11-of-23 attempts from behind the arc. W&J posted advantages in rebounds (41-34), second chance points (17-9) and points in the paint (34-28).

W&J hosts Bethany for a Presidents' Athletic Conference game on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Start time is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.

The contest will serve as Senior Night for the Presidents, as Megan Williams (Bay Village, Ohio/Lake Ridge Academy) will be honored prior to tip-off.