ST. LOUIS - Junior guard Kasey Gatson delivered a team-high 20 points and the Westminster College Lady Blue Jays got back on track with Wednesday night's 78-68 SLIAC victory over the Fontbonne University Lady Griffins.
Westminster improved to 8-5 overall and 7-2 in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The Lady Blue Jays were coming off a 68-46 conference home loss to Spalding (Kentucky) University last Saturday that stopped their five-game winning streak.
Gatson's 3-pointer with 9 minutes, 51 seconds to go in the first half Wednesday night put Westminster in front to stay at 19-17. The Lady Blue Jays twice led by seven points before carrying a 38-34 advantage into halftime when junior guard Mackenzie Haddox hit a free throw with :07 remaining.
Westminster opened up its biggest lead of the night at 59-43 on senior forward Danielle Smulczenski's jumper with 13:02 left in the game. Fontbonne closed within 68-62 with 4:11 to play, but the Lady Blue Jays outscored the Lady Griffins 10-6 the rest of the way to seal the victory.
Gatson - who was 7-of-14 from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range - was one of four players to score in double figures for Westminster, which shot 43 percent (25-of-58) as a team and 60 percent (9-of-15) from behind the arc. Haddox also provided 14 points, while junior guard Sadie Theroff - who made 4-of-5 3-pointers - and sophomore forward Andrea Zalis chipped in with 13 points apiece.
Haddox grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and Zalis followed with nine to power the Lady Blue Jays to a commanding 41-26 edge on the boards.
DeAmbra Pilkington - who connected on 9-of-14 shots - came off the bench to pace Fontbonne (7-9, 3-6) with 20 points. Olivia Hollander supplied 14 points as the Lady Griffins shot 49 percent (29-of-59) from the field.
Westminster returns to St. Louis to face Webster University in a SLIAC matchup at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Blue Jays downed the Lady Gorloks 79-70 on Dec. 3 in Fulton.