Washington & Jefferson 76, Messiah 72

Meghan Dryburgh helped Washington & Jefferson wipe out a 10-point halftime deficit and Bryn Bezjak helped the Presidents erase a 4-point deficit in the final 15 seconds of regulation time, and W&J went on to defeat 24th-ranked Messiah in overtime in a first-round matchup of the NCAA Division III tournament on Friday in Delaware, Ohio.

Washington & Jefferson advances to face 18th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan, an 87-42 winner over Immaculata in Friday's other first-round matchup, in a second-round contest on Saturday.

During the final minute of regulation time, Messiah had the ball up 3 when W&J's Adalynn Cherry came up with a steal, but President center Katie Kovalchick missed a lay-in and fouled Messiah's Liz Monturo on the rebound, and Monturo split the 2 free throws for a 62-58 Falcon lead with :15 to go.

Bryn Bezjak answered with a 3-pointer for W&J with :10 left, and the Presidents fouled Messiah's EmmyFaith Wood with :08 remaining, with Wood missing the first and hitting the second for a 63-61 count.

Bezjak then drove the lane and scored to send the game into overtime knotted at 63.

Wood opened the overtime with a 3-pointer to give the Falcons the lead, but Bezjak sank 2 free throws and Cherry hit a lay-in to give the Presidents the lead.  A Reese Harden lay-in gave the lead back to Messiah, but Bezjak hit 2 more free throws to put W&J ahead to stay, and Riley DeRubbo's lay-in gave the Presidents a 71-68 lead with 1:31 left.

Messiah closed to within 73-72 on a pair of Harden free throws at the :16 mark, but Stellanie Loutsion sank 2 free throws with :13 to go, and DeRubbo split a pair of free throws in the final second for the 76-72 final.

The Presidents had taken a 16-14 lead on Jacey Mullen's 3-point play in the final seconds of the opening quarter, but Messiah outscored W&J, 20-8, during the second period and led, 34-24, at the break behind 11 points apiece from Monturo and Harden.

Meghan Dryburgh helped rally W&J, compiling 2 lay-ins and 3 assists as the Presidents opened the second half with a 17-6 run that gave them a 41-40 lead.  Neither team led by more than 5 points after that, and it was still a 4-point margin when Washington & Jefferson rallied during the closing seconds of regulation time.

Bezjak finished with 18 points to lead 5 Presidents in double figures.  Dryburgh added 16, DiRubbo scored 13, Kovalchick finished with 11, and Cherry had 10.

Harden led all players with 23 points, and Monturo scored 20 for Messiah.

Box Score