Feb 24, 2016 4 min read

WAYNESBURG – The Waynesburg University women’s basketball team entered Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference Tournament against Chatham with a four-game winning streak.

A big reason for the Yellow Jackets improved play down the stretch has been Addy Knetzer.

Knetzer, a Chartiers-Houston graduate, leads the Yellow Jackets in points per game (14.1), rebounds per game (8.8) and minutes played per game (24.9) this season. She also has recorded 10 double-doubles and was named PAC Player of the Week once.

Knetzer’s improved game was on display again last night as the Yellow Jackets advanced to the semifinals with an 80-58 victory against Chatham.

Waynesburg advances to Friday’s semifinals, where the Yellow Jackets play rival Washington & Jefferson at Thomas More.

“The difference between now and where I was last season at this time is tremendous,” said Knetzer. “I’ve worked really hard. It’s been a challenge. My coaches are helping me get better. I have gotten out of my own head and I am more focused mentally, especially when it comes to rebounding. Rebounds are there to be had and if I am not going offensively and I’m not getting foul calls, then I have to go out and get rebounds.

Knetzer started slow from the floor, going 0 for 5 in the first quarter, but the sophomore made an impact on defense and rebounding. Knetzer finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds, 10 of those rebounds coming in the first half.

Knetzer helped Waynesburg outrebound Chatham, 57-35.

“Addy is as quick as most guards and is strong as an ox,” said Waynesburg head coach Sam Jones. “She’s six feet tall and can jump out of the gym. She has all the tools. From January on this season, it just kind of clicked with her. She knows what she needs to do and has done a nice job with it.”

The Yellow Jackets, who defeated Chatham twice during the regular season, including a 69-55 victory Saturday, got solid efforts from Katie Gehlmann, who had a game-high 15 points; Heather Davis, who scored 14 points; and Lauren Blair, who added 10.

Waynesburg didn’t shoot particularly well from the floor in the first half, making just 27.3 percent of the attempts and just 28.6 percent of three-point shots. But the Yellow Jackets got hot in the third quarter.

Davis had a big third quarter as the Yellow Jackets stretched their lead to as many as 25. She scored eight points in the third as Waynesburg opened the quarter with a 20-5 run. Davis helped the run, making a pair of three-point shots.

Waynesburg made 56 percent of their attempts during the third, including 5 of 8 from behind the three-point line to put the game away.

“We knew the shots would start falling,” Jones said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and came out nicely in the second half.”

The Yellow Jackets defense more than made up for their shooting early on, holding Chatham to just 27.3 percent from the floor.

“Sometimes you can’t control whether or not the ball goes down on offense, but you can always control your defensive effort,” Jones said. “We talked about defense. We just talked about shutting them down and we did a nice job of that.”

Waynesburg now faces an opponent they are very familiar with in W&J. The Yellow Jackets were beaten twice this season by the Presidents.

“It starts on the defensive end,” Jones said. “There were a couple of areas where we had let downs last time. Against a team like that, you have to limit say 10 breakdowns to three. We will have to be very sharp defensively.”