COLLEGE BASKETBALL Grove City women surge past Thiel

The Wolverines used a 16-3 first-half run to take command.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
GREENVILLE, Pa. -- Needing a win after a frustrating loss the last time out, the Grove City College women's basketball team broke open a close game Saturday at Rissell-Beeghly Gymnasia and downed Thiel, 66-53.
"We just tried to emphasize playing hard today and let the game take care of itself," said Grove City coach Melissa Lamie. "I think we did right from the start and that set the tone for the rest of the game."
With Thiel (6-17, 1-7) holding a 7-6 lead five minutes into the game, the Wolverines (12-9, 4-4) scored eight unanswered points on the front end of a 16-3 run to take a 22-10 lead.
Leading Grove City in the spurt were Misty Wadowsky and Rachael Romance, with seven points each. For the game, Romance added four assists and four steals.
"I usually look to find the open man to create something instead of looking to score," said Romance. "I am not looking for myself, but I figure if I go hard, something good will happen for us."
When you commit almost as many turnovers in a half as the number of points you score, it usually spells trouble.
That was the story for the Tomcats during the first 20 minutes as they committed 17 turnovers while only scoring 22 points.
Turnovers costly
"That was the turning point in the game," Thiel coach Gloria Pacsi said about the sloppy play. "In the first few minutes, they did exactly what we told them to do. They played solid defense and limited our turnovers and we were right there.
"Once we got into foul trouble, we lost some of our aggressiveness," she said. "That hurt us because we panicked a little bit and that took us right out of the game."
Tammy Hess provided a spark for the Wolverines. She came off the bench to score 13 points while also adding two rebounds and a steal in 16 minutes.
"Last year it was a little harder to come off the bench than it is now," said Hess. "I was a starter in high school, but this year I just wanted to be that person to come off the bench, put in my minutes and do good things for the team."
Leading the Tomcats
Thiel was led by former Farrell product Fontella Jones as she posted her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and a dozen rebounds.
"I feel good about the numbers, but it is difficult to deal with not being able to win," said Jones. "I don't worry about scoring. I just worry about my team."
As for the opening five minutes compared to the rest of the game, Jones had her own idea as to what happened.
"I think we try to rush things too much, and as a result we don't get our offense set up," she said. "We seem to think that just because they [our opponents] score, we have to score. It shouldn't be like that.
"If we can stop them on defense, we can come back and score and get back into the game that way."
Leading the Wolverines in scoring was Abby Moose with 14 points, Wadosky adding another 10. For Thiel, Kerry Guthrie tied Jones for team honors with 14 points.