This past Saturday, the women’s basketball team benefitted from playing the worst team in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Nonetheless, the Yellow Jackets did what they had to do and pounded the Tomcats, 93-40.

Four days later, Waynesburg will have a taller task in front of it, both metaphorically and literally, in the Bethany Bison.

“They have two very good post players,” Waynesburg coach Sam Jones said. “Both are strong and tough around the hoop. They have some guards who can knock them some shots. They’re very well coached, and they play hard collectively.”

The post players Jones referred to are Makayla Reynolds and Kelsie Meintel, and both are in the top three in scoring for the Bison. Bethany’s two top guards are Courtney Walker and Allison Kuhn.

Collectively, the Bison have an identical record to Waynesburg both overall [3-13] and in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference [2-5]. Historically, however, Bethany has gotten the best of Waynesburg the last two times the Jackets visited “Wild and Wonderful,” West Virginia. 

 

Chinks in the Armor

Despite beating Thiel by a historically wide margin, Saturday afternoon wasn’t perfect for Waynesburg.

The Jackets were 5-26 from three-point land and a modest 14-22 from the foul line. Jones knows these are things Waynesburg must improve on.

“We have to shoot the ball better,” Jones said. “We didn’t shoot the ball from outside particularly well against Thiel. That doesn’t show in the final score, obviously, and I was pleased that sometimes we attacked the hoop better because we have that ability. But we definitely want to shoot the ball from the foul line and the three point line better as we move forward.”

Owning the paint

Bethany is the top defensive rebounding team in the PAC, so getting the best of the Bison in the post won’t be easy.
Fortunately for Waynesburg, its top post player, Brooke Fuller, has developed into one of the premier players in the conference, leading the Jackets in both scoring [15.8 PPG] and rebounding [7.6 PPG]. Going against Bethany’s forwards will be a challenge, but Jones feels the super sophomore is up to the challenge. 

“Brooke is quicker than their posts, and does a really good job of setting her defender up to get the ball where she can be successful with it,” Jones said. “She’s going to have to work pretty hard. They might push around a little bit, and she’s prepared for a more physical battle than what she’s faced the last couple of games inside.”

That physicality is something that Jones feels is a trademark of Bethany women’s basketball, and this year’s squad is no different. 

“They work hard,” Jones said. “They’re physical. It’s not a dirty or a cheap physicality. They’re just a hard, bring your hard hat and lunch pail type [of] game.”

“Attention to detail” 

For Jones, the keys to getting a win at Bethany aren’t different then they’d be for any other game. 

“I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but we have to pay attention to detail,” he said. “We have to know our scout, we have to know which kids shoot, which kids are right handed and left handed, because that changes how we guard. And we have to be mentally tough, because they’re a physically demanding team to play against.”