Bethany races past Allegheny, 74-53

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

MEADVILLE, Pa. (Dec. 19) - Propelled by a 21-point first half by senior forward Kelsea Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier), the Bison cruised to a 74-53 win over Allegheny in a non-conference game Tuesday night.

The win improves the Bethany College women's basketball team to 4-6 overall, with wins in each of its last three games. Meanwhile, the Gators fall to 3-7 this season.

Daugherty finished the game with 26 points on 11-of-19 (58 percent) shooting with eight rebounds. Freshman guard Allison Kuhn (Lewisville, Ohio/Monroe Central) added 12 points on four three pointers with four assists, while freshman Fallon Nicholson (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) chipped in eight points in the win.

Allegheny took the early advantage with a 6-1 lead through the first three minutes of the contest. Bethany rallied with a 10-2 run over the next four minutes to claim the lead at 11-8 with 3:47 remaining in the first quarter. The Gators would tied the game up, but a three pointer by Kuhn right before the first quarter horn gave the Bison a 14-11 lead at the end of one period.

Bethany took command of the contest in the second quarter. The Bison extended their lead to 15, 30-15, over the first five minutes of the period and eventually took a 39-21 advantage into halftime. Daugherty was in command for the Bison, scoring 21 points on 9-of-16 (56 percent) shooting from the field in the first half, including a basket-and-one in the final minute to help Bethany take an 18-point lead into the locker rooms.

Kuhn found the hot hand for the Bison to open the second half, draining a trio of treys to start the third quarter and extend the Bethany lead to 25 at 50-25 with 4:46 left in the period.  Back-to-back layups by freshman Keyira Golden (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) helped build the Bethany lead to 28, 56-28, before the Bison heading into the fourth quarter with a 58-33 commanding lead.

The Green & White took its largest lead of the night at 31, 66-35, when Nicholson dialed one up from long distance at the 6:58-mark, and led by more than 20 points for the remainder of the game en route to its third-straight win of the season.

Bethany showed that the season of giving extends to the basketball court with a season-high 20 assists in the victory, while freshman Janaya Hazlip (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox) dished out a team-best five dimes. The Bison also enjoyed a 46-to-30 advantage on the glass with 14 points off of 19 offensive rebounds.  

Bethany will take a break for the Christmas holiday and return to action on Friday, December 29 when they host Franciscan for a non-conference game inside the Hummel Field House at 4 p.m.