Grove City, Pa. (February 10, 2010) -- The Thiel College women's basketball team fell at the hands of the Grove City College Wolverines, 64-51, on Wednesday.

The Wolverines jumped out of the gates, outscoring the Tomcats, 15-4, over the first eight minutes of play.  Grove City would carry this momentum throughout the duration of the first half, leading the women of Thiel, 31-21, when the halftime buzzer sounded.

The second half began with Grove City extending their halftime lead to 17 points, but the visiting 'Cats refused to go quietly into the snowy night, as they roared back into contention.  Led by the frontcourt tandem of Kelly Barzak (Warren, OH/Howland) and Ashley Davis (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Peter Chanel), the Tomcats shot 43 percent from the field in the second half, cutting the deficit down to seven.

Despite Thiel's offense catching fire in the second half, the late surge proved to be too little, too late, as the Grove City women outscored Thiel, 10-4, over the final minutes, to put the game away.

Davis finished the game with a team-high 13 points, on 6-of-12 (50%) shooting, and gathered eight rebounds, while Barzak continued her defensive assault on the conference, blocking five shots, to go along with 11 points and eight rebounds.

With Wednesday's performance, the Warren, Ohio native now ranks second in Thiel history, with 57 blocks in a single season, and is 12 denies away from Cara Sipe's record of 69.  Also, this is the seventh time in the last 10 games that Barzak has swatted four or more shots.

Freshman guard, Kelly Muffley (Salsburg, Pa./Western Reserve Academy), contributed 11 points and four rebounds in the loss.

On Saturday, Feb. 13, Thiel will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day (NGWSD) as the Tomcat women host the Westminster College Titans at 1 p.m.