Second Half Comeback falls short for Lady Jackets

--Defiance, Ohio—After a half-time score of 19-34, the DC Lady Jackets outscored Washington & Jefferson 50-39 in the second before falling short, 69-73 in the championship game of the Hubbard Co./ Pro Rehab Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Weaner Center.

Meghann Savard and Meta Gerding earned all-tournament honors for their two-day performances. Savard scored 29 points in the championship game with three rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal before fouling out. Gerding grabbed six rebounds, scored 11 points, dished out two assists and had two steals. Savard totaled 52 points in the tournament, while Gerding scored 22 total points and grabbed 14 boards.

Kara Jones also scored in double-figures for DC with 11 points. Kelly VanderHorst totaled a game-high eight rebounds and hit for seven points. The Presidents were led by Tournament MVP Leigh Sulkowski with 25 points on the afternoon and 51 total points for the tournament.

DC was outrebounded 29-33, but harassed W & J into 20 turnovers and outscored the Presidents in the paint 44-29, despite being outsized. The Lady Jackets hit 21 second-half field goals compared to seven in the first half.

W & J built a 19 point lead at the six minute mark when Sheana Malyszka hit a jumper off a Courtney Janczak assist to make the score 15-34. In a sign of things to come, Defiance tightened the screws and held the Presidents scoreless for the final 5:48 of the first half.

The Lady Jackets outscored the Presidents 27-14 in the first 10 minutes of the second half and cut the gap to two when Kathryn Hupp hit a three-pointer at the 9:20 mark. W & J built another nine-point lead at the six-minute mark, but saw their lead dwindle to two again when Kara Jones hit a three-pointer with 11 seconds remaining.

A technical foul on the DC bench gave the Presidents two free throws that built the W & J lead to two possessions, and made the final score 69-73.

Freshman Kayla Mengerink also played well in the loss with four steals, six points and two assists.

The Lady Jackets are now 4-5 following the loss and will travel to Capital on December 30th to face the Crusaders at 7:00 p.m.

Washington & Jefferson is 8-1 with the win.