Bison Women's Hoops Falls at Geneva
Jan. 27 – BEAVER FALLS, Pa. – The Bethany College women's basketball team found themselves outscored in three of four quarters as the Green & White fell to Geneva College, 85-73, on Wednesday evening.
The Bison held and early 9-6 advantage thanks to five points from Mikyla Tipton (Wellsville, Ohio/Wellsville) and four from sophomore Kelsea Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier).
From there, however, the hosts would take the lead, using an 8-0 run to take a five-point lead with 4:47 to play in the opening quarter.
Daugherty would help the Bison take the lead for the final time in the game at the 3:28 mark of the opening frame (15-14), but an 8-2 run by the Golden Tornadoes would put the hosts up 22-17 by the end of one.
The second quarter would see the Bison cut the gap to as few as three points, but Geneva would control the quarter, holding Bethany to just 12 points to extend the deficit to 10 (39-29) by the end of the half.
The bright spot of the opening stanza was Daugherty, who was just one rebound shy of a double double through the first 20 minutes. She finished the half with 14 of the team's 29 points, while also pulling down nine rebounds.
The second half opened with Geneva extending the advantage to 13 points, before the Bison responded with an 8-0 run of their own. Tipton and Kelsi Settle (Seabring, Ohio/Seabring) converted on back-to-back layups before Hayley Holenka (Shadyside, Ohio/Shadyside) knocked down a pair of free-throws. The run was then capped by a jumper from Taylor Large (Hopwood, Pa./Laurel Highlands) which pulled the Green & White within five, 48-43, midway through the third.
Bethany could get no closer in the game as the Golden Tornadoes pushed the advantage back out to 12 points by the end of the frame. The teams then played to a stalemate in the fourth quarter, with each team notching 21 points, and the Bison fell by the 85-73 score.
The Bison were led in the game by their three leading scorers. Daugherty tallied her best outing of the year, posting season highs in both points (25) and rebounds (14) en route to her third double-double of the season.
Holenka and Tipton each added a solid scoring output, both finishing with 18 points. Tipton finished the game shooting 8-of-13 from the field while adding five assists and three rebounds. Holenka, meanwhile, connected on a pair of triples, shot 8-of-13 from the charity stripe and finished one board shy of a double double.
The Bison will be back in action on Saturday, January 30 when they travel to Greenville, Pa. to take on the Tomcats of Thiel College. Action is slated for a 2 p.m. start.
