Bison Nipped By Presidents

Bethany, W.Va - The Bethany College women's basketball team returned home for a President's Athletic Conference (PAC) matchup to face the Washington and Jefferson Presidents. The Bison were edged by the Presidents, 66-56. Bethany was led by senior Sammie Weiss with 25 points. The green and white are now 12-12 (7-8), while Washington and Jefferson is 17-7 (12-3).

GAME OVERVIEW
1st- The Bison struck first with a Sammie Weiss layup. The green and white and the Presidents battled back and forth, with the Bison taking the lead and going up by as many as eight in the first quarter. Bethany led 19-13 at the end of one.

2nd- A steal from Janaya Hazlip and layup put the Bison up 21-18. The Presidents chipped away at the Bison lead and knotted the game at 25-25. The green and white trailed by seven going into halftime, 34-27.

3rd- An Allison Kuhn three cut the margin to four to start the second half, 34-30, but the Bison would slowly see the deficit grow to as many as 18 throughout the third quarter. A Weiss layup cut the lead to 13, 50-37. The green and white trailed 52-37 at the end of the third stanza.

4th- A Weiss three put the Bison on the board first in the final stanza, 52-40. Free throws from Makayla Reynolds and Weiss cut the deficit to 10, 54-44. The Bison kept battling and cut the lead to nine with under two minutes to go in the game. Moments later, a Reynolds three cut the deficit to eight, but the Bison comeback would fall short.

IN THE BOX SCORE
• Sammie Weiss led the Bison with a season high 25 points and pulled in eight rebounds
• Makayla Reynolds added 10 points and dished out two assists
• Ashley Duthie had a team high four assists and three blocks
• Janaya Hazlip contributed nine points, dished out two assists and had two steals
• Allison Kuhn added eight points and four assists
• The Bison were outrebounded 42-29
• The green and white were 9-14 from the foul line, whereas the Presidents were 19-24

QUOTABLE
Head Coach Brian Sansom:

"We talked about playing a better first quarter than we have lately and I thought we did that! We executed our offense very well and we're finding the open teammates, sharing the ball out of our sets! Sammie Weiss played an excellent game on offense tonight, she wasn't feeling well today but she pushed through for her team and tried to carry us again! Janaya Hazlip also played one of her better games tonight, I thought she was poised and under control! In order for us to make a run in the playoffs we need others to do their part! W&J however, got whatever they wanted when they went inside, we don't play behind in the post but for some reason that's where we were the whole night! We're usually a good rebounding team but we didn't box out much and got hustled in that phase of the game! When W&J went zone we got passive and started playing a lot of individual basketball, we weren't making the zone shift because it would be one pass and shot, we weren't patient enough, never reversed the ball but we never have too much when practicing against it either and it really showed tonight! We have spent a lot of time on our zone offenses but we make it too easy on each other in practice so when in a game a team goes zone it's very hard for us, it should be completely the other around! It's simple, we can't continue to put in the bare minimum work and expect positive results! When our players graduate I want them to realize they reached their potential on and off the court because they worked for it and learned that putting a little extra work into things is what led them to be successful over the people who just do the minimum of what's asked! If we want to do more as a program on and off the floor we need to make sacrifices to do so! We will celebrate our three seniors, Sammie, Ashley Duthie and Taylor Large on Saturday before the Waynesburg game! I can't say enough wonderful things about these three young women and what they meant to our program and to me! #ONEBethany"

UP NEXT
Bethany returns action on Saturday, Feb. 16 against Waynesburg inside Hummel Field House. Tip-off is set for 1:00 pm.