Bellhy sparks OT win for W&J
The game was slipping away.
A three-point lead bulged to five, then seven.
That’s when Washington & Jefferson College head coach Jina DeRubbo broke out the secret weapon. Well, OK, it’s not that much of a secret. Every team has a full-court press package and some teams use it the whole game.
When DeRubbo unleashed it, the Presidents were trailing Penn State Behrend by seven with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Their press defense created three straight turnovers that resulted in baskets, and sparked a 14-0 run that stopped the bleeding. And Beka Bellhy did the rest, scoring seven of her game-high 38 points in overtime to lead W&J to a 96-91 victory in the quarterfinals of the ECAC Division III South quarterfinals Wednesday night at Henry Memorial Center.
The win moves the top-seeded Presidents (23-5) into Saturday’s semifinals against Marywood (19-8) at Henry Memorial Center. Tipoff is 3 p.m. No. 7 Waynesburg plays No. 3 Stevenson at 1 p.m. The championship game will be Sunday at a site and time to be determined.
Penn State Behrend, the second-place team in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, finished with a 15-12 record.
Bellhy scored the first three points in the 14-0 run that turned the 59-52 deficit into a 66-59 lead at the end of the third quarter.
“The press saved us. It’s not something we use very often, but I’m glad we used it today,” said DeRubbo. “When we use that, we’re better at it when we’re smaller. But it’s hard to keep Beka and Rachel (Bellhy) out of the game. Rachel can do it, but we’re better when we have smaller guards.”
Getting back into the game was one thing, holding onto the lead was another. Penn State Behrend finally righted itself and began to claw back. When Sadie Zielinski hit her only three-point field goal of the game, the Lions had a 76-75 lead with 3:20 to play.
The lead went back and forth until Behrend’s forward Ali Goetz was fouled with 21 second to play. She made the first free throw to tie the game, 79-79, but missed the second. W&J had a chance to win in regulation but Beka Bellhy’s jumper from the top of the key hit the front of the rim and bounced away.
“A lot of teams press us,” said Penn State Behrend head coach Christine Slater. “We have a young team and we lost some possessions but we figured it out and fought it off. I’m proud of our team for keeping their composure and coming back. Basketball is a game of runs.”
W&J had the last run of the game, outscoring Behrend, 9-4 in the final minute to go up 96-88. The big play came with 16 seconds to go when Goetz was called for a flagrant foul on Beka Bellhy. She made one of two, then Alyssa Riley was fouled and she sank them both to put W&J in front, 94-85 with 14 seconds remaining.
Beka Bellhy made 14 of her 26 field goals and 10 of 16 free throws to hit 38 points, the fifth time in her career and fourth time since Feb. 1 that she scored 30 or more points in a game. Bellhy moved into third place on the school’s all-time scoring list, passing Shawndra McDonald, who scored 1,536 points from 2000-04. Bellhy needed nine to pass and now has 1,565 points. Kelly Stacey (1987-91) is in second place with 1,766 points. Leigh Sulkowski (2002-06) leads with 2,034.
“I knew I was close, but I wasn’t sure how close,” said Bellhy, a Fort Cherry graduate. “I knew I was kind of there once I passed 1,500. This is my last season so I want to go out (playing well).”
Beka’s sister, Rachel, had a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. She also had five steals. Amirah Moore, a 5-7 sophomore guard, scored 10 of her 11 points after halftime and had a team-high eight assists.
Dani Reinwald, a 6-0 sophomore center, scored 19 points for Penn State Behrend, mostly on the inside, and had 11 rebounds. Goetz finished with 17 points, including four of Behrend’s 12 three-point field goals. Senior guard Rachael Razzano had 12 points, all on three-pointers, and freshman Heidi Langhorst added 11 points.