WAYNESBURG, Pa. (January 8) – The Waynesburg University women's basketball team put forward one of its top offensive outings of the season as the Jackets defeated Franciscan University of Steubenville 84-63 in the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse on Wednesday afternoon.
Waynesburg rises to 7-6 on the year and 2-6 in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action. Franciscan falls to 1-12, 1-7 PAC.
Waynesburg drained a dozen threes and had 12 different players score in the contest. The Jackets scored at least 20 points in all four quarters and led by as many as 32 points.
The Jackets led 13-7 after six minutes of action and closed the first quarter with a 7-0 run to lead 20-11. Madisen Dayton (Ridgeley, W. Va. / Calvary Christian Academy) scored the opening basket of the second quarter to push Waynesburg's lead to double digits.
Jaden Sturm (Clarksburg, W.Va. / Robert C. Byrd) hit a pair of three-pointers to grow Waynesburg's lead to 33-19. Julz Mohrbacher (Freedom, Pa. / Freedom), Madison Platt (Follansbee, W.Va. / Brooke), Dayton and Kara McFadden each scored in a 9-2 spurt in the final two minutes with McFadden's pull-up three sending the teams to the locker rooms with the Jackets ahead 42-23.
The Jackets outscored Franciscan 20-13 in the third quarter and had a stretch where they hit four threes in two minutes of game time in the fourth before walking away with the 21-point conference victory.
McFadden and Clara-Page Miller (Waynesburg, Pa. / Waynesburg Central) each had 13 points. McFadden added eight assists and six rebounds. Kalista Friday had 10 points, six rebounds and two steals.
Tori Wesolowski (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) notched nine points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Platt had nine points on a perfect shooting day, 2-for-2 from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line.
The Jackets outrebounded Franciscan 58-49 and held a 19-14 edge in the turnover margin. Waynesburg never trailed in the ballgame and led for over 39 minutes.
The Jackets host Washington & Jefferson on Saturday at 1 p.m.