WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson women's basketball team remained unbeaten in Presidents' Athletic Conference play after using a strong fourth quarter to earn a 57-40 victory over visiting Allegheny College Wednesday evening at Salvitti Family Gymnasium. 

The win is the seventh straight for W&J, who improves to 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the PAC. Allegheny falls to 4-6 overall and 4-2 in conference play.  

W&J got off to a rocky start in the first quarter of play as the Allegheny offense found a way to take an early 10-5 lead in the middle of the first quarter. The Presidents were able to quickly adjust though as they erased that lead thanks to key shots made by sophomore Meghan Dryburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Baldwin) and Victoria Koeck (Sidman, Pa. / Forest Hills) who each made tough finishes in the paint. Two made free throws from the charity stripe by Bryn Bezjak (Uniontown, Pa. / Albert Gallatin) allowed the Presidents to take a 16-12 lead going into the second quarter.

Coming into the second quarter of play, Adalynn Cherry (Altoona, Pa. / Altoona Area) came out of the gates strong as she scored the first five points of the quarter for W&J. The Presidents were able to build their lead before the half by 10 as they took a 27-17 lead into the half after limiting the Gators to just five points in the second quarter. 

The Gators chipped away at the Presidents' lead with a strong third quarter. Allegheny outscored W&J by a 13-6 margin in the third to cut its deficit to as few as few as one point (31-30). A jumper by Nautica Burwell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) gave W&J some breathing room entering the fourth. 

W&J found its offensive rhythm and took command over the final 10 minutes. Holding a three-point lead with just seven minutes to go, freshman guard Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) buried a pair of three-point field goals during an 8-0 run that stretched the W&J advantage to 45-34 at the 3:58 mark. W&J led by at least nine points for the remainder of the game. The Presidents drained six-of-eight free throws over the final minute to finish off the victory. 

The Presidents did a good job on the night of holding reigning PAC Player of the Week Emily Lauer in check. Lauer made just 4-of-19 field goal attempts and committed seven turnovers. Sarah Santicola finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Gators. 

Dryburgh (15), Cherry (13), and Loutsion (10) all reached double figures in scoring. Dryburgh added 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks on the night.

Koeck headlined W&J's defensive efforts with five blocks and four steals to go along with seven points and five rebounds. 

Allegheny held a 46-36 edge in reboundng but committed twice as many turnovers as W&J (20-10).

The Presidents will head to Franciscan University of Steubenville for a PAC game on Saturday, December 17 with a 2 p.m. start in Steubenville, Ohio.