Women's Basketball: Bethany's fourth quarter comeback falls short

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Trailing by 17 points heading into the final quarter, Bethany College women's basketball made a dramatic comeback but fell short in the final seconds, 68-67 to Allegheny College Wednesday evening.   

GAME FLOW

• Sophie Morey lifted the lid for the Bison with eight minutes to go in the first. Bella Skobel hit a three to give the Bison the 5-4 lead, but the Bison lead was short lived as the Gators went on a 21-4 run to take a 25-9 lead heading into the second quarter.
• The Bison used a strong second quarter to begin to cut the deficit. Taylor Dusenberry, Bella Skobel and Alyssa Serensky all hit three's to cut the Gator lead, 27-18. With 6:42 to go in the second, Alyssa Serensky hit another three bringing the Bison within six, 27-21. The Gators would extend their lead ending the quarter on a 12-9 run.
• Allegheny led 39-27 at the half.
• The Gators controlled the third quarter, leading by 17 heading into the final quarter of play.
• The Bison began to chip away at the large deficit to start the fourth quarter. Amelia Ferguson made a layup for the Green and White's first points of the fourth. Ferguson would later cut the Gator deficit to ten with 5:02 to go. The Bison during the first five minutes of the final stanza were on a 10-3 run. After a Bethany timeout, they continued to claw back into the game. The Bison on an 8-0 run, were within two after a Dusenberry jumper.
• Dusenberry hit a three with 28 seconds to go. The Bison trailed 65-64, quickly fouled to send Jess Bickart to the foul line. Bickart hit both from the charity stripe, extended the Gator lead back to three. With seven seconds to go, Alyssa Serensky hit a three to tie the game at 67-67.
• A Bison foul would send Bickart to the foul line where she converted 1-of-2 to give Allegheny a 68-67 lead. The Bison were given one last attempt with one second left on the clock, but the Gators defended the pass in to Serensky as time expired.

IN THE BOX SCORE

• The Bison were led by four with double-digit points. Taylor Dusenberry led the Bison with 14 points. She pulled in seven rebounds and had four made three's.
• Sophie Morey had 12 points and a team-high six rebounds and added three assists.
• Alyssa Serenksy had 12 points and seven rebounds. She had three assists and two steals.
• Amelia Ferguson added 12 points and five rebounds.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Bethany shot 39.4 percent (26-66) from the field while Allegheny hit 37.2 percent (29-78).
• The Gators were 28.6 percent (4-14) from behind the arc. The Bison hit 11-27 (40.7%) from downtown.
• The Gators edged the Bison on the boards, 45-40, with 16 offensive boards.
• The Bison had 17 assists.

RECORDS

Bethany College – 4-13 (4-8 PAC)

Allegheny College – 8-8 (8-4 PAC)

UP NEXT

Bethany will travel to Waynesburg University on Jan. 21 for the PAC Sports Network Game of the Week for a 1 pm tipoff.