Bison dealt season-opening loss at Frostburg State, 76-53

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

FROSTBURG, Md. (Nov. 17) - The Bethany College women's basketball team opened the season with a 76-53 loss to Frostburg State in an opening round game at the Jim Crawley Tournament Friday evening.

Senior forward Kelsea Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier) tallied a team-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting (66 percent) with four rebounds to lead the Bison (0-1) in the game. Junior Sammie Weiss (Taylorstown, Pa./McGuffey) finished with nine points and three boards, while freshman Fallon Nicholson (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) added nine points, four rebounds and four assists in her collegiate debut.

Bethany got off to a good start with back-to-back baskets to start the game with a 4-0 lead. Frostburg State responded with 10-straight points and maintained the lead for the remainder of the first quarter. The Bison cut the Bobcat lead to two three times, including at 20-18 with 7:30 remaining in the first half, but Frostburg State closed out the half with an 11-6 stretch that allowed the hosts to take a 31-24 advantage into halftime.

Frostburg State built its lead to double-digits in the first two minutes of the third quarter and distanced themselves with a 57-37 lead with 4:05 remaining in the third quarter. Bethany sliced into the deficit with eight-unanswered points to make the score 57-45 at the 1:25-mark of the period, but the Bobcats responded with nine-straight points of their own over the next five minutes to rebuild a 66-45 lead into the fourth quarter. Frostburg State defensively would limit the Bison to eight points in the final quarter to send Bethany to the season-opening loss.

Bethany finished the game 17-of-45 (38 percent) from the field, compared to the 29-of-62 (47 percent) posted by the Bobcats. The Bison committed 19 turnovers, including 11 on Frostburg State steals. 

Frostburg State's Victoria Diggs led all players with 24 points, including five three-point shots.

Bethany will play in the colsolation game of the Jim Crawley Tournament against Pitt-Bradford tomorrow, Saturday, November 18 at 1 p.m.