The Waynesburg University women’s basketball team started its final three games of the regular season with an 80-57 loss at the hands of the St. Vincent Bearcats. The Bearcats currently rank first in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference and gave the Yellow Jackets their fair share of struggles throughout the game.

After a solid first four minutes of play followed by defensive struggles and miscommunications in the first quarter, head coach Sam Jones was not pleased with the effort of his team.

“We had our moments,” said Jones. “We have to come out and set a better tone in the first quarter.”

After the four-minute mark of the first passed, St. Vincent went on a 10-0 run that put them ahead 19-10.

In the second quarter, the Jackets cut the lead to just seven points before the Bearcats put out a strong finish to end the half.

One of the bright spots for Waynesburg was sophomore Andrea Orlosky, who led the team in scoring with 15 points. Despite her solid showing, she feels the team still has a lot to work on before the final week of PAC play.

“I think we had our moments,” said Orlosky. “I think it all comes down to our effort and our defense and that is something we need to set the tone in practice [for], so that we can set the tone in the game.”

Right behind Orlosky in scoring was junior guard Erin Joyce, who added 11 points. She accumulated nine of her 11 points from beyond the arc, going three-for-five on the day from 3-point range.

During the middle two quarters of play, Jones said it appeared to be closer than it actually was and again said that the performance was due to the lack of effort.

“We made some shots in the second and third quarter,” said Jones. “Which made it seem a little closer than it might have been, but pretty disappointed in our performance.”

In the fourth quarter, the struggles continued for the Jackets, and they were not able to cut into the Bearcats lead.

In the final 10 minutes of play, St. Vincent outscored Waynesburg, 20-10.

With two more PAC games remaining, Orlosky feels the team needs to start working better as a unit if they want to compete in the PAC tournament.

“I think in the PAC every team is going to put their best effort,” said Orlosky. “We need to go harder, we need to really want it and we need to really start working as a team. And the way we play in practice is the way we are going to play in a game.”

With wins against Thiel and Bethany the Jackets would secure home court advantage in the PAC tournament, but Jones is not concerned at the moment where the Yellow Jackets play their playoff basketball games.

“Home playoff games are nice,” said Jones. “But I couldn’t care less about where we play. I want to get those wins so that we start playing better basketball and start being more of who we should be.”

On Wednesday, Waynesburg hosted Thiel but the result of the game was too late for print, but Jones promised that the team will be ready for the final two games.

“We’ll be better,” said Jones. “Because we need to be.”