Women's basketball rallies for win at Thiel, 81-76

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

GREENVILLE, Pa. (Jan. 6) - Despite a 14-point deficit to open the fourth quarter, the Bison rallied for an 81-76 win at Thiel Saturday afternoon at Beeghly Gymnasium in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game.

Bethany improves to 6-7 overall, 3-3 in league play. Meanwhile, the Tomcats fall to 2-4 in the PAC, 3-9 overall.

Senior forward Kelsea Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier) registered her seventh double-double of the season with 27 points and 14 rebounds, including an 11-for-14 performance at the free-throw line to lead the Bison. In the process, Daugherty moved past former Bison Dianne Hess-Dish (1983-87) for fourth all-time at Bethany College in scoring and now has 1,485 career points.

Junior guard Ashley Duthie (Madison, Ohio/Madison) posted line of 14 points, six rebounds and three assists, while freshmen Makayla Reynolds (Buckhannon, W.Va./Buckhannon-Upshur) and Haylie Glass (Mercer, Pa./Mercer) each reached double-figures in points. Reynolds finished with a season-high 12, including 10 points and four offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, while Glass added 10 points in the win.

Bethany shot 50 percent (7-of-14) from the field in the first quarter, but found itself trailing 27-17 entering the second quarter. Thiel converted five three pointers and shot 53 percent (8-of-15), with Tomcat guard Jess Vormelker accounting for 15 of Thiel's 27 points.

The Bison slashed Thiel's lead to six at the 3:13-mark of the second quarter and kept the Tomcats within reach, even while the hosts continued to drain shots from long distance. The Tomcats closed out the first half converting 9-of-17 shots (53 percent) from beyond-the-arc and took a 45-36 lead into halftime.

Although Daugherty managed to bring the Bison within seven, 51-44, on a layup with 7:18 remaining in the third quarter, the Tomcats managed to build a 17-point lead with a 14-4 run over the next six minutes. Thiel looked poised to add to its 65-48 lead in the quarter's final possession, but a steal by Daugherty helped setup a Glass three-point shot in the final seconds to send Bethany into the fourth quarter with a 14-point deficit to overcome.

Bethany narrowed the gap to 10, 68-58, three minutes into the fourth quarter, before a Vormelker three pointer rebuilt the Tomcat lead to 13 with 6:33 left in the game. The Bison took command of the game from there with a 18-5 run, capped off with back-to-back treys by Glass and freshman Allison Kuhn (Lewisville, Ohio/Monroe Central), to tie the game at 76-76 with 1:03 remaining in the contest. 

The Green & White continued to wear down the Tomcats in the final minute of the game. A block by senior Kelsi Settle (Sebring, Ohio/McKinley) on a Vormelker three-point try gave the Bison the ball with 31 seconds and led to Daugherty splitting a pair of attempts at the foul line to push Bethany ahead 77-76. It was the first lead of the game for the Bison since the 7:16-mark of the first quarter.

The Bison kept the pressure on Thiel and a steal and two free-throws by Duthie on the ensuing possession gave Bethany a 79-76 lead with 18 seconds left on the clock. Thiel got to the free-throw line on its end, but missed both attempts, allowing the Bison to seal the game with two more free throws of their own.

Bethany held Thiel to 20 percent shooting (2-of-10) in the fourth quarter and held a 16-to-4 advantage on the glass, with seven offensive boards. The Bison also converted 14-of-18 attempts from the chairity stripe, helping them out-score Thiel 30-to-11 in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Vormelker finished the game with 42 points in the loss on 14-of-25 shooting (56 percent), while playing all 40 minutes of the game. Vormelker was one of four Tomcats who played more than 35 minutes of the game.

Bethany will begin a two-game PAC homestand on Wednesday, January 10 when they host Washington & Jefferson at 5:30 p.m.