SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - December 20, 2023 - Chatham Women's Basketball (10-2, 6-1) defeated the #25-ranked Elizabethtown Blue Jays (7-4, 3-1) by the score of 78-74 on Wednesday at the Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez. The Cougars won their two games in as many days at the Puerto Rico Clasico and will head into the holiday winners of nine straight.
Sophomore guard
Hannah Chenault led the team in scoring with 19 points on 6-9 shooting, including 4-7 from three-point range. Junior guard
Ashlie Louden scored 17 points with three triples of her own. Sophomore forward
Alyssa Laukus notched her second double-double of the season, recording 13 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Laukus was 5-7 from the charity stripe, which set season highs for her in both free-throws made and attempted. Junior guard
Zelimar Rodriguez matched her season highs in both points and rebounds, scoring 12 with six boards. Junior guard
Emily Durkee had 10 points on 3-5 shooting from the field and 2-4 from deep, while classmate
Aurielle Brunner recorded five assists, four rebounds and four steals to go along with three points.
The Cougars were propelled by a dominant first quarter, just like in Tuesday's win. Chatham was 10-15 from the field in the opening frame and knocked down five three-pointers, including two from Chenault, to jump out to a 25-13 lead. Elizabethtown quickly closed the gap with a 10-2 run to start the second quarter, but Chatham kept up and went into halftime leading by seven. Both offenses came alive in the third quarter, with a 25-24 showing in favor of the Blue Jays. Down the stretch in the fourth, Elizabethtown tied the game at 63 and pulled within one point on three separate occasions after that, but never gained the lead as the Cougars stayed calm and converted on their free throws, going 7-10 in the final quarter.
Overall, Chatham shot 45.6% (26-57) from the field, 41.4% (12-29) from three and 73.7% (14-19) from the line. The Blue Jays won the rebounding battle 36-29, and both teams had 11 steals.
Women's Basketball will return to action on New Year's Eve when they visit the Allegheny Gators to restart PAC play.
