WASHINGTON, Pa. – Sophomore guard Hannah Archer (Lowell, Ohio/Fort Frye) finished with a game-high 20 points and junior guard/forward Meghan Dryburgh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) registered her fourth double-double of the season to help pilot the Washington & Jefferson women's basketball team to a 63-53 win over visiting Bethany Saturday at the Salvitti Family Gymnasium. 

The win improves the Presidents to 3-1 in Presidents' Athletic Conference play and 5-1 overall. The loss is the second-straight for the Bison, who drop to 3-2 in the league and 5-4 overall. 

Archer made seven of 11 field goal attempts, including four makes from behind the three-point line. Archer, in her first season with the Presidents, sparked the Red and Black with a breakout shooting performance Saturday.

Dryburgh put together a monster game on the glass. The junior pulled down a season-high 21 rebounds to go along with 12 points, five assists and three steals. 

Bryn Bezjak (Uniontown, Pa./Albert Gallatin) found success beyond the arc. The junior guard made three-of-five attempts from distance and totaled 13 points. 

Both teams struggled to find their rhythm in the early going. Sarah Berardelli (Ambridge, Pa./North Catholic) ended a four-plus minute scoring drought for both teams. Berardelli converted a jumper at the 5:11 mark of the first quarter. The Bison responded with five-straight points to take the lead. Bethany held the lead from nearly the remainder of the quarter before a three-point play by freshman forward Jaden Wan (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock) made it 11-11 after 10 minutes.

Archer accounted for the first six points of the second quarter to help maintain the tie score. Bezjak moved the Presidents in front with a three at the 6:53 mark. The teams continued to trade scores until Archer buried triples on back-to-back possessions to grow the lead to four points (30-26) at the 2:23 mark. 

Archer tacked on another three-point field goal just before halftime. Her third three-point make of the first half made it 35-28 at the break. 

Bethany surged into the lead in the third quarter. The Bison put together a 10-0 run after the Presidents went scoreless for more than five minutes. A three-point field goal by Dryburgh ended the drought and evened the score at 38-38. 

Sophomore guard Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and Wan followed with field goals to help W&J reclaim a 42-38 lead. However, the Bison countered with seven of the next nine points to take a 45-44 lead into the fourth quarter. 

The Presidents put the game away in the fourth quarter with timely baskets and strong play on the defensive end. The Bison made just two of 14 field goal attempts over the final 10 minutes. After a three-point field goal gave Bethany a 51-49 lead with 4:38 to play, W&J countered with 11-straight points. Archer and Bezjak nailed back-to-back triples to give the Presidents the lead for good. W&J salted the game away at the charity stripe. 

W&J held major disparities in bench points (32-4) and points off turnovers (15-2). 
 
A large factor in W&J's win Saturday was perimeter defense. The Bison came into the game boasting one of the top outside shooting teams in the league. 

Bethany entered Saturday making more than 10 three-pointers per game. W&J limited the Bison to six makes on 22 attempts from distance. Lindsey Garrison, who was averaging nearly 20 points per game, was held in check. Garrison finished with seven points on three-of-12 shooting. Makenzee Mason led Bethany with 17 points. 

W&J will host Franciscan University of Steubenville on Wednesday, Dec. 6th at 6 p.m.