Last-second shot sinks Bison at Waynesburg, 71-70

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Dec. 6) - A basket as time expired dealt the Bethany College women's basketball team a 71-70 loss at Waynesburg Wednesday night at the Rudy Marisa Fieldhouse in a Presidents' Athletic Confernce (PAC) contest.

The loss sends the Bison to 1-2 in league play, 1-6 overall. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets improve to 4-3 overall, 2-1 in the PAC.

Senior forward Kelsea Daugherty dropped 27 points with 11 rebounds (five offensive) for her fourth double-double of the season. Junior guard Sammie Weiss (Taylorstown, Pa./McGuffey) finished the evening with 18 points, while classmate Ashley Duthie (Madison, Ohio/Madison) added nine in the loss.

A pair of free throws by Weiss gave Bethany a 59-49 lead with 7:22 left in the game. Waynesburg scored seven-straight points and kept the Bison off of the board over the next four minutes to close the gap to three, 59-56, but a basket-and-one by Daugherty rebuilt the Bison lead to 62-56 with 3:23 remaining in the contest. The Yellow Jackets followed with an 11-3 run, capped off with a basket-and-one, to tie the game at 67-67 at the one minute mark.

Bethany came up empty on each of its next two possessions, allowing Waynesburg to take possession with the shot clock turned off and the score tied. Waynesburg's Addy Knetzer drew a foul in the paint and knocked down a pair of free throws to give Waynesburg its first lead since the final minute of the first quarter. Following a Bison timeout, Daugherty got the ball at the left elbow and drove to the basket for a basket-and-one to give the Bison a 70-69 lead with five seconds remaining in the game. 

After Waynesburg advanced the ball to half-court with a timeout, Yellow Jacket guard Julie Deklaven got the ball at the top of the key and drove into the lane for a game-winning layup as time expired to send Bethany home with a loss.

The Bison finished the evening shooting 23-of-53 (43 percent), compared to the 24-of-64 (38 percent) posted by Waynesburg. Bethany was out-rebounded 42-to-34, including 17 offensive rebounds by the Yellow Jackets, while Waynesburg was credited with 13 assists compared to the Bison who had four.

The two teams played to a tie over the first nine minutes of the first quarter at 15-15, before the Bison out-scored Waynesburg 16-3 over the next seven minutes to open up a 31-18 lead with 4:17 remaining in the first half. The Bison eventually took a 37-25 lead into halftime.

A pair of baskets to open up the second half helped Bethany build a 41-25 lead; its largest of the game. Waynesburg would out-score Bethany 31-to-18 over the next 15 minutes to draw within three points at 59-56 with 3:48 remaining in the contest.

Waynesburg's Mackenna Drazich finished with 20 points to lead the Yellow Jackets.

Bethany will stay on the road when they travel to New Wilmington, Pennsylvania to take on Westminster on Saturday, December 9 at 1:30 p.m.