Women's Basketball: Bison hold off Titans in road win

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. – The Bethany College women's basketball team held on to defeat the Westminster College Titans, 63-60, inside Buzz Ridl Gymnasium, Saturday afternoon.

GAME FLOW

• Ashleigh Wheeler scored first for the Bison with 9:03 to go in the first quarter. Westminster went on a 7-0 run to take a 7-2 lead. Alyssa Serensky hit a three followed by a Sophie Morey lay-up to cut the deficit to 11-9. Wheeler tied the game at 11-11 and gave the Bison the lead after the old-fashioned three-point play. The Bison trailed 18-16 after the first stanza.
• Alexis Heap knotted the game at 18-18 to open the second quarter. Serensky nailed a three to give the Bison back the lead, 21-18. The Bison and Titans went back and forth for most of the second quarter. Morey gave Bethany the lead with 35 seconds to go in the half. The Bison took a 30-28 lead heading into the half time break.
• In the second half, the Bison and Titans went back-and-forth battling throughout the last 20 minutes of play. The Bison outscored the Titans, 33-32 in the second half.
• Bella Skobel opened the third quarter with a shot from behind the arc. Sophie Morey continued to be a force in the paint for the Bison, extending the Bison lead, 35-28. The Titans battled to cut the deficit to two points, but Morey scored a layup giving the Bison a 37-33 lead.
• Bethany led 45-40 after three quarters.
• Serensky opened the final stanza with a triple. The Titans scored the next three points, but Bethany's Morey hit an old-fashioned three point play fiving the Bison a six point lead. Both teams exchanged bucket-for-bucket over the course of the fourth.
• The Titans went on a 6-2 run to cut the Bison lead to three, 56-53. Bethany ended the game outscored the Titans, 9-7 in the final minutes of play. The Bison were able to capitalize on their free throws to hold the narrow win.

IN THE BOX SCORE

• Sophie Morey led the Bison with 15 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. She had four blocks.  
• Alyssa Serensky added 14 points with four three-pointers.
• Ashleigh Wheeler contributed 12 points with six rebounds and four assists. She finished 6-for-7 from the foul line.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Bison shot 15-for-17 from the foul line (88.2%) while the Titans went 9-for-16 (56.3).
• The Titans took the slight advantage from the field, shooting 39.7% (23-58) while Bethany shot 35.0% (21-60).

RECORDS

Bethany College – 7-15 (7-10 PAC)

Westminster College – 12-9 (8-8 PAC)

UP NEXT

Bethany will return to Hummel Field House on Wednesday, Feb. 8 for a PAC contest against Franciscan University at 6 pm.