Women's basketball dealt loss at No. 4 Thomas More, 99-65

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. (Dec. 10) – The Bethany College women's basketball team was defeated 99-65 by No. 4 Thomas More in Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) action Saturday afternoon at the Connor Center.

The Bison fall to 3-5 overall, 1-1 in league play. Meanwhile, the Saints, ranked No. 4 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III poll, improve to 2-0 in the PAC, 6-0 overall.

Junior forward Kelsea Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier) led Bethany with team-highs of 22 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Senior guard Hayley Holenka (Shadyside, Ohio/Shadyside) added 19 points, while juniors Maclaine Murad (Bridgeport, Ohio/Bridgeport) and Kelsi Settle (Sebring, Ohio/Sebring) chipped in seven and six points, respectively.

A layup by Settle gave the Bison a 4-2 lead less than two minutes into the game, but the Saints scored the next 13 points to breakout to a 15-4 advantage with 5:46 left in the first quarter. Thomas More closed out the opening period with a 30-11 lead.

The Saints pushed their lead to 22, 41-19, over the first five minutes of the second quarter. The Green & White went on a 9-3 run over the next three minutes to make the score 44-28 with 2:39 left in the first half, before Thomas More took a 51-29 lead into halftime.

The two teams each dropped 26 points in a back-and-forth third quarter. Thomas More maintained the lead and kept the Bison at least 19 points behind throughout the period. The No. 4 Saints pulled away for good in the fourth quarter, leading to their double-digit win.

Thomas More's Abby Owings tallied a game-high 25 points, including seven three pointers, to lead the Saints.

Bethany hosts Mount Aloysius in a non-conference bout on Wednesday, December 14 at 6 p.m.