Bellhy shot in OT makes W&J winner
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Beka Bellhy hit a jumper from five feet off an assist from Taylor Cortazzo to send the Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball team to a 71-69 overtime win over Rochester Institute of Technology in the championship game of the Penn State Behrend Tip-Off Tournament.
W&J raised its record to 2-0 and RIT fell to 1-1.
The two teams ended regulation tied 62-62. The Tigers struck first in the overtime period with a jumper by Merissa Maiorano 1:30 into the extra period. A pair of free throws by Valerie Dunlap 56 seconds later tied the game, 64-64.
The Presidents held a three-point lead, 69-66 with 17 seconds but RIT tied it on a three-point field goal. Following a timeour by W&J, Cortazzo received the inbounds pass while cutting into the front court and drove to the basket drawing the defense and leaving Bellhy wide open in the paint for the easy two points and win. A last ditch three-quarters court heave by RIT fell short and the Presidents preserved the 71-69 victory.
W&J led by eight, 35-27, in the first half thanks to a strong start that included five three-pointers, two each from Cortazzo and Alexa DelGreco. The biggest lead of the game for either team was 11 points by W&J at the 11:21 mark of the first half following a DelGreco triple, 23-12.
Valerie Dunlap led the Presidents with 17 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, while also adding four assists, earning tournament MVP honors in the process. Danni Medovich contributed 16 points, 10 in the second half and overtime, plus six rebounds and four assists. Cortazzo was also in double figures with 13 points, eight rebounds and team highs of five assists and three steals.
Men’s results
Bridgewater State 105, Wash & Jeff 64: The Washington & Jefferson men’s basketball suffered a 105-64 loss to Bridgewater State in the consolation game of the Lancaster Rotary Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Franklin & Marshall.
The Presidents fell to 0-2 and the Bears moved to 1-1.
Mike Resnik led W&J with game highs of 25 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Resnik was named to the all-tournament team, thanks to his 21 points and 7.5 rebound average.
Tyler Haas scored 13 points for the Presidents.
Bridgewater State shot 54.7 percent from the floor compared to just 34.8 percent for W&J. Four players hit double figures for the Bears, led by Kyle Gibson’s 21 and Fawaz Mass’ 19.