Daugherty leads Bethany past Thiel, 74-57

Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

• Box Score

BETHANY, W.Va. (Feb. 3) - Led by a 28-point, 16-rebound performance from senior forward Kelsea Daugherty (Newport, Ohio/Frontier), the Bethany College women's basketball team claimed a 74-57 win over Thiel College Saturday afternoon at the Hummel Field House in a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) game.

The Bison improve to 10-11 overall, 7-7 in conference play. Bethany, under second-year Head Coach Brian Sansom, has now recorded consecutive seasons with double-digit wins for the first time since 2012. Meanwhile, the Tomcats fall to 2-12 in the PAC, 3-18 overall this season.

Daugherty, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds at the half, matched her season-high with 16 rebounds and scored 10 of her game-high 28 in the fourth quarter to register her 10th double-double of the season. Junior guard Ashley Duthie (Madison, Ohio/Madison) chipped in 15 points, while freshmen guards Allison Kuhn (Lewisville, Ohio/Madison Central) and Janaya Hazlip (McKees Rocks, Pa./Sto-Rox) each added eight points in the win.

Thiel held a one-possession lead for a large stretch of the first quarter, but a Hazlip steal and layup in the final 10 seconds of the quarter gave the Bison a 12-11 lead entering the second quarter.

Bethany established an 11-point lead, 30-19, with 2:28 left until halftime when Duthie knocked down back-to-back three pointers to cap off an 18-8 spurt. Thiel cut the lead to down to 32-23 with 1:39 remaining in the second quarter, but did not have another offensive possession for the remainder of the half. The Bison added three points and tallied four offensive rebounds in the final 90 seconds to take a 35-23 lead into halftime.

The Bison built their largest lead of the game, 46-28, over the first four minutes of the second half and appeared in complete control. Thiel battled back with six-unanswered points to close out the third quarter and pull back within 12 points at 53-41 entering the final 10 minutes.

The Tomcats got as close as 11 points, 57-46, following a three-point shot with 8:22 remaining in the game, but Bethany never allowed them within single digits. The Bison went on a 10-4 run over the next three minutes to pull out to a 67-50 lead and rolled to their 10th win this season.

Bethany dominated on the glass, finishing with a 48-to-25 rebound advantage, and also established a new season-high with 23 assists. The Bison ended the game shooting 29-of-61 (48 percent) from the field, compared to the 19-of-52 (37 percent) posted by the Tomcats.

Thiel was led by junior guard Jess Vormelker, who finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Vormelker ranks first in both points (20.0) and rebounds (10.0) per game this season in the PAC. Daugherty currently slots second in both categories at 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

The Bison are on the road twice next week. Bethany will travel to Latrobe, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, February 7 when they take on Saint Vincent at 5:30 p.m.