STEUBENVILLE, Ohio – The Washington & Jefferson College women's basketball team coasted to a ninth-straight victory with a 72-48 wire-to-wire victory Wednesday night over the host Franciscan Barons in a Presidents' Athletic Conference game in Steubenville, Ohio.

The win improves the Presidents to 18-2 overall and 14-1 in conference play. The loss drops the Barons to 4-17 overall and 2-14 in PAC contests.

Stellanie Loutsion (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) continued to excel offensively. The sophomore guard finished with a game-high 17 points while dishing out a career-high six assists and committing no turnovers in 22 minutes of work. Sarah Berardelli (Ambridge, Pa./North Catholic) also reached double figures with 10 points and pulled down a team-best seven rebounds with three blocks.

W&J scored early and often to build a quick 9-0 lead through the first three-plus minutes to force a Franciscan timeout. Good ball movement and pressure defense helped spark the early lead. Meghan Dryburgh(Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) drained a three on the Presidents' opening possession.

The host Barons recorded their first points on a layup at the 5:27 mark. Both teams struggled to score from there for the remainder of the quarter. Neither team made a field goal for nearly four minutes. After a made field goal by the Barons at the 47 second mark, Katie Kovalchick(Shelocta, Pa./Indiana Area) put in a layup to give W&J a 12-4 advantage after 10 minutes of play. The two teams combined to make just six field goals in the opening 10 minutes.

Both teams were able to get their offense going in the second quarter. The Presidents and Barons both shot better than 57 percent in the second quarter. The Presidents pushed their lead to 21-9 with back-to-back bucks by Kovalchick and Jaden Wan (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock). Franciscan would respond back with an 11-4 run to trim the deficit to five points on a good jump shot at the 4:56 mark. Berardelli helped W&J maintain its lead with consecutive made field goals.

Three-point field goals by Loutsion and Adalynn Cherry (Altoona, Pa./Altoona Area) on consecutive possessions put the lead back into double digits at 35-22 with just 1:42 to play in the first half. The two teams exchanged baskets from there as W&J took a 37-24 advantage into halftime. Loutsion and Berardelli accounted for 10 points apiece in the first half.

W&J put together another strong offensive effort in the third quarter. The Presidents put up 22 points in the quarter. Loutsion continued her strong play with seven points in the quarter including a layup that stretched the lead to 52-30 at the 4:12 mark. The Red and Black continued to lead by 20+ points for the remainder of the quarter. Ally Fisher (New Kensington, Pa./Burrell) drained a three-point field goal just ahead of the third quarter buzzer to make it 59-34 after three.

Marina Grado (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) made the most of the fourth quarter. The freshman tallied eight points in the final frame as W&J secured another conference win.

W&J made 40.9 percent from the field including 8-of-23 from three (34.8 percent). The Presidents converted 10-of-12 at the free throw line (87.5 percent). W&J out-rebounded Franciscan by a 42-34 margin and forced the Barons into 22 turnovers.
Dryburgh chipped in eight points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Wan added eight points while Cherry finished with six points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists.

W&J returns to action when they host Thiel College on Saturday, Feb. 3. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Presidents will host their annual Think Pink game in conjunction with Saturday's contest.