Holenka reaches 1,000 points as Bison top Thiel, 79-68

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

GREENVILLE, Pa. (Feb. 4) – Led by all five starters scoring in double-figures, the Bison earned a 79-68 win over Thiel in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game Saturday afternoon.

The win improves the Bethany College women's basketball team to 11-10 overall, 9-5 in league play. Meanwhile, the Tomcats fall to 2-12 in the PAC, 5-16 overall this season.

Senior guard Hayley Holenka (Shadyside, Ohio/Shadyside) tallied 14 points and now has exactly 1,000 career points at Bethany. She reached the mark on a free-throw in the closing seconds of the contest.

Both members of the Bison frontcourt registered double-doubles. Junior forward Kelsea Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier) posted team-highs of 20 points and 14 rebounds, while classmate Kelsi Settle (Sebring, Ohio/Sebring) established a career-high with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Sophomore guards Sammie Weiss (Avella, Pa./McGuffey) and Ashley Duthie (Madison, Ohio/Madison) also scored in double-figures. Weiss dropped 18 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists, while Duthie added 11 points.

Bethany went up 7-3 over the first three minutes of the game, but the Tomcats closed the first quarter on a 17-8 run to take a 20-15 lead.

Thiel scored the first five points of the second quarter to push its lead to 10 with 8:35 left until halftime. Bethany stormed back with 12-straight points to take a 27-25 lead with just under five minutes left in the quarter and went back-and-forth with the Tomcats, before settling on a 36-32 lead into the break.

The Bison extended their lead to 14, 47-33, over the first five minutes of the second half and maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the period. Bethany eventually led by 20 points in the fourth quarter, 64-44, with 6:09 remaining in the game, but Thiel rallied with a 20-6 run to get as close as six, 70-64, with two minutes on the clock. The Bison held off any comeback attempt to pickup the win.

Holenka hit one-of-two from the free-throw line with 19 seconds left in the game to earn her 1,000^th career-point.

The Bison finished the game shooting 28-for-59 (48 percent), while the Tomcats shot 23-for-60 (38 percent). Bethany held a 36-to-22 advantage in points in the paint and out-rebounded Thiel 48-to-33.

Thiel's Jess Vormelker scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Tomcats.

The Bison are back on the court on Wednesday, February 15 when they host Saint Vincent for a tip at 6 p.m.