BETHANY, W.Va. – The eighth-seeded Thiel College women's basketball team upset the fifth-seeded Bethany Bison 68-55 Monday in a PAC Championship Tournament first-round game on the road at Hummel Field House.
 
Thiel led for a majority of the game beginning with 3:33 remaining in the first quarter after Jess Vormelker (Orwell, Ohio/Grand Valley) connected on a layup. The Tomcats went on to lead 18-10 at the end of the first frame and 37-20 at halftime.
 
Vormelker scored on a jumper less than a minute into the third quarter to give Thiel its largest lead of the game, a 19-point edge (39-20). Bethany cut Thiel's lead down to eight points twice early in the fourth quarter but would get no closer the rest of the way.
 
Freshman guard Rachel Breckenridge (Burton, Ohio/Berkshire) led the Tomcats with a game- and career-high 22 points. She made seven shots from the floor, six of which were from beyond the arc. Vormelker scored 19 points and handed out four assists.
 
Alivia Sidley (Thompson, Ohio/Ledgemont) and Danyelle Lucido (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) scored 12 and nine points for the Tomcats, respectively. Freshman forward Destiny Johnson (Baltimore, Md./Western) recorded a game-best 10 rebounds.
 
Makayla Reynolds led Bethany with 17 points while Sammie Weiss scored 13 points and corralled nine rebounds.
 
Monday's win was Thiel's first in a PAC Championship Tournament game since Feb. 24, 2009 when Amber Bodrick scored 29 points to lift the Tomcats over the Grove City Wolverines in a first-round game on the road (65-51).
 
The Tomcats will take on the fourth-seeded Chatham Cougars on the road Wednesday in the tournament quarterfinals. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Chatham went 2-0 against Thiel in the regular season. The Cougars defeated the Tomcats at home on Jan. 5 (62-50) and on the road on Feb. 6 (66-63).