MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Allegheny College women's basketball team bounced back from a slow first quarter to beat Waynesburg University, 71-58, on Senior Day at the James H. Mullen, Jr. Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Before tipoff, the Gators honored seniors Endraya Abraham (Swansea, S.C./Lee Magnet (La.)) and Alexis Caldwell (Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish Bay) as part of the team's Senior Day recognition.

Needing a victory to secure the fifth seed in the upcoming Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament, Allegheny (13-12, 12-8 PAC) found itself down by as many as eight points in the opening quarter and trailed at the first intermission, 15-9. Despite the shaky start, the Gators doubled up Waynesburg (2-23, 2-18 PAC) in the second quarter, 24-12, and entered the locker room at the half up by six, 33-27.

On a roll, Allegheny extended its advantage to as many as 18 points in the third quarter, but Waynesburg did not go down without making things interesting late. A series of 3-pointers from Madison Platt helped the Yellow Jackets whittle the deficit down to three points, 58-55, with five minutes to play.

Alas, the AC defense held Waynesburg off the scoreboard for the next three-and-a-half minutes, and the Yellow Jackets only received one more trey from Platt before the final buzzer.

Inside the Box Score

• Allegheny shot 31.3% (26-of-83) from the floor and 73.7% (14-of-19) from the foul line.
• On the other hand, Waynesburg was 30.6% (19-of-62) overall and only 57.1% (12-of-21) from the charity stripe.
• Allegheny owned the boards with a plus-15 rebound margin, 61-to-46.
• Sofia Genareo (Lakewood, N.Y./Southwestern Central) paced all Gators with 17 points and completed the double-double with a game-high 16 rebounds.
• Caldwell scored 15 points with five rebounds and three assists in her final home game inside the David V. Wise Center.
• In 14:25 off the bench, Bella Wier (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) netted 10 points.
• Jess Bickart (Cranberry Township, Pa./Seneca Valley) scored nine points with seven rebounds and a game-high seven assists.
• Emily Lauer (Knox, Pa./Keystone) only had six points, but was second on the team with 10 boards and had two steals.
• Platt and Tori Wesolowski each scored a team-high 14 for Waynesburg.

News and Notes

• With a 12-8 PAC record, Allegheny secured the fifth seed for the 2022-23 PAC Championship Tournament.
• The Gators continued to dominate the all-time series against Waynesburg and are now 12-2 against the Yellow Jackets.
• Genareo tied her single-game career-high for scoring with her second consecutive 17-point effort.
• Genareo also set a new career-high with 16 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double.
• Caldwell's 15 points mark the highest scoring total of her senior campaign.
• Bickart ended the regular season with 107 assists, the most by a Gator since Stephanie Wolf posted 121 during the 2007-08 season. 

Up Next
Allegheny will hit the road for the quarterfinal round of the 2022-23 PAC Championship Tournament on Monday, February 20. As the fifth seed, the Gators will travel to No. 4 Chatham University and make their first postseason appearance since 2019-20.