W&J women aiming to finish the job at PAC Tournament
Stephen Rydzak | Washington & Jefferson Athletics
Leading up to last year’s Presidents’ Athletic Conference Tournament, Washington & Jefferson women’s basketball coach Jina DeRubbo could sense her team was hanging on.
They were winning games, but there was anxiety accompanying each step.
It eventually came to a head and the Presidents were upset by Geneva in the PAC semifinals.
A year later, they are closing in on the top seed again and she feels the psyche among the group is much better.
They are looking to finish the job and win the conference tournament to clinch an automatic bid in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
“We were winning games last year, but I didn’t feel good about it,” DeRubbo said. “I thought we were stressing and pressing too much, but I don’t feel that way at all this year. We’re winning games and we’re playing well. I don’t feel like we’re squeaking by teams and afraid to lose. I feel better about where we are.”
The Presidents (17-2, 20-4) rebounded from a loss to Allegheny Wednesday by defeating Waynesburg 70-53 Saturday.
If they win their finale against Thiel or Allegheny or Chatham lose once they clinch the PAC title and home court advantage in the conference tournament, which begins Feb. 25.
They’ve done it with a balanced attack.
Stellanie Loutsion, a Canon-McMillan grad, leads the team in scoring at 13.6 points per game. Katie Kovalchick is right behind her at 11.5 per game. Adalynn Cherry, Bryn Bejak and Meghan Dryburgh are all a shade under 10.
Dryburgh became the all-time leading rebounder in Washington & Jefferson history in Wednesday’s game against Allegheny.
Each one could have the hot hand on a given night.
“We are good at building each other up,” Loutsion said. “Katie (Kovalchick) killed it (Wednesday), so we made sure we were getting it to her. As a team I feel like we’re built to go on runs. Everyone just does their own thing, which is great. In high school each one of us probably had to do most of the work.”
The Presidents also have several options off the bench, which got stronger with the addition of Riley DeRubbo, Coach DeRubbo’s daughter, in December.
Riley’s journey to Washington & Jefferson is an interesting one.
She played at Fordham and American, but tore her ACL three times in her career.
After graduating from American last year, she got a job at Amazon, but the itch to play basketball was still there.
“She came to me and said “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but what If I come to W&J?”,” Coach DeRubbo said. “It’s been a good transition. It could be a little touchy bringing in a kid in December and on top of that it’s my kid, which makes it a little more challenging, but I think our team has handled it well and Riley has handled it well.”
Riley is in a graduate program at W&J and is a substitute teacher at Trinity, her alma mater. She already knew most of the girls on the team and could be a key piece come tournament time to help the Presidents get over the hump.
“She just kind of missed it and I think she was around these girls and saw the culture they had and wanted to be a part of it,” Coach DeRubbo said. “It’s been cool, but she does make me mad at times. I try to treat her like anyone else. She brings good depth for us off the bench and is a skillful player that can score in multiple ways.”