Bodrick unleashes 1-2 punch for Thiel

The freshman from Cardinal Mooney enjoyed her 11th double-double.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
Vindicator Correspondent
GROVE CITY -- Jump on your opponent early and cruise to the final buzzer. That was the route taken by the Thiel College women's basketball team Wednesday as the Tomcats downed the Grove City Wolverines, 56-38.
Thiel (5-12, 3-1) got off to a fast start as the Tomcats put together runs of 7-0 and 13-1 to build up a 20-5 lead 11 minutes into the game.
"It is very important when we come to a place like Grove City to get that fast start," said Thiel coach Artina Trader. "I don't think either team played great basketball, but I do know that when you come to Grove City, you have to be ready for a grind-it-out game because they are a defense oriented team."
Heather Abate led Thiel with 14 points, while freshman Amber Bodrick (Cardinal Mooney) completed her 11th double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Nicole Valentino (Sharon) added 11 points.
"I want to really thank my teammates because they really helped me out tonight," said Bodrick, who struggled early in the game. "They stepped up when they had to and that helped take the defensive pressure off of me.
"This is a start, but we need to play together like we did tonight every time we go on the floor. I am not looking to score every time I touch the ball, but if given the opportunity, I will take it."
For Grove City, Rachel McCoy had 12 points, while Brittany Anderson added 10.
Grove City battles back
Trailing by 15, the Wolverines (6-11, 2-2) battled back on the strength of five points from Tammy Hess and a bucket apiece from Anderson, McCoy and Jennifer Wiley as they eventually cut their deficit to 10 points at halftime.
During the opening 20 minutes, the Wolverines were their own worst enemy as they committed 10 turnovers while shooting 22 percent. For the Game, GCC had 16 turnovers and shot a dismal 18.5 percent.
"Right from the get go, we pretty much set the tone that we weren't going to make too many baskets," said GCC coach Melissa Lamie. "When you don't shoot that well, you feel a lot of other things going wrong. We just sort of got caught up in that 'we can't shoot' kind of mode and as a result, nothing positive went on for us for the rest of the game."
Thiel pads lead
Trailing by 10, the Tomcats stretched their lead to 14 in the first four minutes of the second period. Grove City answered with a 12-3 run to get back into the game.
"I was somewhat pleased that we at least battled back," said Lamie about the run. "We did play some good defense in stretches to at least give ourselves a chance, but then on the offensive end, we turned around and did nothing."
The Tomcats had one final answer for the Wolverines, scoring eight unanswered points to put the game away.
"We had some people step up and hit some big shots for us," said Trader. "Heather Abate has been away for a while and she hit some big 3s when we needed them and Nicole Valentino also hit some big shots for us when we needed them."