BETHANY – There will be a lot on the line for the Bethany College women’s basketball team Saturday afternoon when they travel to Washington & Jefferson for the regular season finale. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m..
The Bison (12-12, 7-8) are currently tied with Grove City (12-12, 7-8) for fourth place in the conference and need a victory over W&J and a GCC loss to secure the #4 seed and a home game in next week’s PAC Tournament. Bethany can also earn the fourth seed with a win and a Grove City victory over Westminster Saturday, depending on the outcome of the Chatham at Thiel game for tiebreaker purposes.
If Bethany should lose Saturday and Grove City wins, BC could slide down to the #6 seed, as they would be tied with W&J, but the Presidents would hold the tiebreaker based on sweeping the season series from the Bison. W&J claimed the first meeting with Bethany by a 75-64 count back on Jan. 19 by shooting 52 percent from the floor and committing just six turnovers. The Presidents were led by Vanessa Rivera with 20 points, while junior Anne Wilson (Saegertown, Pa./Cambridge Springs) fired in 18 for Bethany.
The Bison climbed back into the tie fourth place with a 65-59 triumph over Chatham at home Wednesday. After a sluggish first half in which they committed 11 turnovers and missed all 11 attempts from the three-point line, Bethany recovered to score 48 points in the second half and come away with the victory. Junior Katelynn Hackathorn (Valley Grove, W.Va./Wheeling Park) had game-highs of 19 points and eight rebounds in the victory, while Wilson was 9-for-10 from the foul line and finished with 11 points.
W&J (9-15, 6-9) still has a chance at the #4 seed as well if they defeat Bethany and Westminster knocks off Grove City. However, the Presidents will have to work through recent struggles, as they have dropped six of their last seven, including a 77-56 loss at Waynesburg Wednesday. Ashley Kirkpatrick scored 16 and Kara Seamon came off the bench to drop in 10, but W&J was outrebounded 46-28 and shot only 38 percent from the floor.
During this recent stretch, the Presidents have been struggling offensively, as they’ve scored more than 56 points just once. Kirkpatrick, the team’s leading scorer (10.3) and rebounder (4.8), has continued to produce, averaging 16.3 points in the last three contests. Rivera is second with 8..3 points per game and leads the conference in assists with 5.04 a contest.
Discussion about this post