PITTSBURGH – Chatham Women's Basketball (12-4, 10-2 PAC) handed Washington & Jefferson (14-3, 11-1) its first defeat in conference play on Wednesday night with a stellar closeout performance, 67-62.
 
Hannah Chenault was lethal once again for the Cougars from three point range, shooting 4-8 from beyond the arc en route to a game high 20 points along with 3 steals. Charjae Brock netted 13 points, pulled down 7 rebounds, and had 6 steals for Chatham. Madison Nereu put 12 points on the board for the Cougars, including 10 in the first half, and grabbed 7 boards. Ashlie Louden scored 10 points for Chatham and had 3 assists.
 
The Presidents jumped out to a 4-2 lead early on before the Cougars responded with four straight points from Nereu to take a 6-4 lead. After W&J tied the game at 6, Chatham kickstarted an 8-2 run which stretched into the next quarter. Nereu again had four points on the run. In the second quarter, Alyssa Laukus knocked down her first-career three-pointer to give the Cougars a 17-11 lead, but the Presidents immediately pulled even again with a 6-0 run. The hosts would close the half with a 13-6 run, including a layup from Louden in the closing seconds, to lead 30-23. In the third quarter, W&J slowly chipped into the Chatham lead. A 7-0 President run near the end of the quarter tied the game at 41, and after a Brock bucket, W&J knocked down a three-pointer to grab a 44-43 advantage going into the final frame. After a 6-0 President run, Hannah Chenault came through from long range, connecting on three consecutive three-pointers to retake the lead for the Cougars at 55-53. Chatham would only give up three points in six-and-a-half minutes of play, with Zeli Rodriguez capping the 14-3 run in that span with a clutch shot from beyond the arc with a minute left to play. The Cougars made enough free throws in the final minute to hold off the visitors from Washington.
 
Stellanie Loutsion was the Presidents' leading scorer with 19 points on 7-18 shooting. Loutsion also collected a game high 3assists. Meghan Dryburgh stepped up defensively for W&J with 5 blocks and 18 rebounds. Adalynn Cherry scored 15 points for the Presidents, and Kate Kovalchick netted 11 points.
 
Chatham will return to action at the AFC on Saturday to take on Allegheny at 12 p.m.