WASHINGTON, Pa. - The Westminster College women's basketball team extended its season-long win streak to six games by defeated Washington & Jefferson, 55-48, Saturday in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play at the Henry Center in Washington, Pa.
The Titans (14-4, 6-1 PAC) protected first place in the league by breaking the three-way tie with W&J (12-7, 5-2) and Thomas More (5-1 PAC), who played a game against provisional PAC member Saint Vincent Saturday that did not count toward league standings.
Westminster trailed by five points with 3:51 remaining in the game before the Titans scored the final 12 points of the game to secure the come-from-behind win.
Senior guard Desiree Sterling (Newton Falls, Ohio/Newton Falls) registered a double-double by scoring a game-high 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the floor and grabbing a season-high 10 rebounds. Sterling started for just the second time this season with junior forward Terese Marszalek (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) out of the lineup with an injury.
Senior guard Nicole Fee (New Castle, Pa./Neshannock) bucketed 16 points, one shy of her career high, by shooting a sizzling 6-of-7 from the field including a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range.
Junior guard/forward Emilee Ackerman (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) also scored in double figures with 11 points to go with her team-high four assists.
W&J forward Maggie Gibson led her team with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Westminster got off to a bad start as the Titans trailed 15-3 just over seven minutes into the game and 30-21 at halftime. The Presidents would go up by as many as 13 points (41-28 with 13:19 remaining) in the second half before the Titans ended the game on a 27-7 run.
First, the Titans went on a 13-2 run, highlighted by six points from freshman center Rachel Martinko (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) and Fee's 3-pointer that cut the W&J lead to two points.
Then the Titans ended the game on a 12-0 run that included Sterling hitting the go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:37 left on the clock and Fee giving the Titans a four-point lead with a trey.
Westminster steps out of conference play Monday for a home game against Pitt-Greensburg at 7 p.m.
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is ranked among national leaders in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Guide to America's Best Colleges, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 361 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and was recognized by the Templeton Guide as a "Character Building College."
Nearly 1,600 students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty, while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa. campus.
