Jackets pull away in second half, take care of Bethany

Two teams will meet again Monday night

Senior day at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse Saturday afternoon, as always was, laced with sentimentality.

Alli DeLaney and Erin Joyce both took the hardwood with their families before the game, as the public address announcer listed their accomplishments and plans for life in the real world.

It was a fitting tribute, but if the Yellow Jackets couldn’t punctuate the day with a win, it would have turned into somewhat of a requiem. It would have almost ensured that Waynesburg wouldn’t have another home game until November, and Joyce and DeLaney would never play another college basketball game in front of a home crowd.

But the Jackets made sure that didn’t happen, and overcame a lukewarm first half to beat the Bison, 70-58. As a result, Waynesburg will host Bethany again in less than 48 hours Monday night at the same setting.

“There were already lots of emotions today and that just kind of puts icing on the cake,” DeLaney said. “To have another home game is great.”

Although the pregame belonged to the seniors, the players who will be returning next season stole the show. Sophomore Brooke Fuller [12 points, 10 rebounds] and junior Andrea Orlosky [17, 11] each posted doubles, and another player that shined was freshman Anika Dansby.

Dansby played possibly the best game of her college career. She scored 10 points and posted six rebounds, and Jones cited her intelligence as the reason.

“She was a great decision maker today,” coach Sam Jones said. “We had lots of positive things for her, but it really boiled down to her decision making today was great. Therefore, the shots were falling, and she made good passes, playing great defense and getting rebounds. She was all over the place.”

The game played out similarly to Wednesday night’s win at Thiel. The first half was even, and the teams were tied at 30 headed into the break.

Bethany knew it couldn’t play at Waynesburg’s pace— Waynesburg entered the day third in the PAC in scoring, while Bethany was second to last— and as a result, needed to slow the game down to pull out a win. For Jones, the Jackets playing to their tempo in the second half was key in pulling away.

“We just kept the tempo of the game where we wanted it,” he said. “That was really key for us to keep that tempo up. Once we were able to get that tempo where we wanted, things started to flow well. We just play better that way. We shoot the ball better. Our defensive energy is better that way, and they don’t really want to play at that tempo as much as we do.”

Another key to improvement in the second half was boxing out. Bethany outrebounded Waynesburg 25-15 in the 20 minutes, but the Jackets flipped the switch and beat the Bison 29-20 on the boards in the second half.

Both DeLaney and Jones mentioned the same key for beating Bethany again and making a playoff run.

“Keys going into the postseason are going to be rebounding, boxing out, free throws and just playing at our good, fast pace that we play best at,” DeLaney said.

“When we make good decisions, rebound and play at the right pace, we’re a pretty good team,” Jones said.