Bethany Recovers From Slow Start to Down Grove City 67-61

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After shooting just 27 percent in the first half, the Bethany College women's basketball team came to life offensively to rally from a nine-point halftime deficit and pull out a 67-61 victory over Grove City Saturday.

The victory gave the Bison their first regular season sweep over the Wolverines since 2007-08 and improved their records to 10-7 overall and 6-4 in the PAC. With the defeat, Grove City now stands at 4-13 and 3-7 in the conference.

In Wednesday's loss to Saint Vincent, Bethany fell behind big early on, as the Bearcats streaked out to a 15-2 advantage. Saturday's game followed a similar script, as the Wolverines forged a 16-5 lead midway through the opening stanza. The Green and White's deficit grew to as large as 13 before they chipped away to make it a 31-22 Grove City margin at the intermission. Bethany made only 7-of-26 shot attempts in the first half, including a frigid 1-for-12 from the arc.

Grove City kept the Bison at bay for the first six minutes of the second half, but when their offense ran cold, Bethany heated up. A 23-7 spurt over the span of over eight minutes turned a seven-point deficit into a 55-46 Bison lead with 5:54 to go following a pair of free throws by junior Kayla Taormina.

Anytime the Wolverines had thoughts of a comeback, senior Audra Droginske extinguished them at the foul line. She went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe over the final 2:13, as she scored 13 points in the second half to spark the rally. For the game, Droginske finished with 22 points, which included 11-for-13 shooting at the free throw line, the most foul shots made by a Bison since Katie Resanovich went 11-for-11 in a loss at Grove City in Feb., 2005.

Joining Droginske in double digits was Taormina with 12 points and senior Katelynn Hackathorn, who recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards. Senior Renee Shepherd nearly posted a double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds.

On the Grove City side, Kelsey Shirey scored 14 points and Megan Gebrosky had 11.

The Bison will try their fortunes out on the road in their next outing, making the trip to Geneva for a 5:30 tip-off on Wednesday evening.