GREENVILLE, Pa. (Jan. 5) -- After trailing by as many as 23 points in the second half of Saturday's Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) contest, the Thiel College women's basketball team was able to trim the Bethany College lead to three late but eventually fell to the Bison by a final score of 80-75 at Beeghly Gymnasium.
Thiel (5-5, 2-2) junior guard Amber Bodrick (Boardman, Ohio/Cardinal Mooney) (Youngstown, Ohio/Cardinal Mooney) led the Tomcats with 20 points, 13 rebounds and five steals. Sophomore forward Jasmin Jones (Pittsburgh/Wilkinsburg) (Pittsburgh/Wilkinsburg) recorded a season-high 15 points to go along with seven rebounds and senior forward Elysa Farrell (Greenville/Kennedy Catholic) (Greenville/Kennedy Catholic) added 11 points and five boards.
Bethany (5-5, 2-1) saw four players finish in double figures, led by Lisa Mitchell's 20 point, nine rebound effort. Renee Brandenburg totaled 16 points and nine rebounds while Tara Harris posted 15 points and a game-best 15 rebounds.
After watching the Bison push its first half lead to 22-13 with just under nine minutes in the period the Tomcats were able to scratch their way back and cut the lead to three, 22-19, with 6:23 remaining. Bethany outscored Thiel 11-4 over the final 4:08 of the period and went into the half with a 38-25 lead.
Bethany opened the second half outscoring Thiel 18-8 and watched its lead swell to 23, 56-33, with 14:11 to play. A 16-3 Tomcat run, capped by a Bodrick layup at the 2:07 mark, cut the Bison lead to three, 74-71. Bethany converted on 4-of-4 free throw opportunities to push its lead to 80-73 before Bodrick's layup with seven seconds to play closed out the scoring.
The Bison finished shooting 36.6 percent (26-71) from the floor and 25.0 percent (5-20) from three-point range. They also finished with a 54-40 edge in rebounding. The Tomcats shot 38.7 percent (29-75) from the field and converted on 4-of-17 (23.5%) three-point attempts.
Thiel is set to return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 8 when it travels to Washington & Jefferson College. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
