Senior Day proves to be a winner for Grove City

The Wolverines enjoyed quality team play as they overwhelmed Thiel, 90-48.

By BILL ALBRIGHT

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

GROVE CITY, Pa. — It was a good day for the Grove City College women’s basketball team on Senior Day, as the Wolverines overwhelmed Thiel, 90-48.

“The final outcome was nice, but the big thing is that I can look at the number of minutes and they go from 10 to 26,” said Grove City coach Sarah Harris. “Not only was everybody able to get quality minutes, but everybody was able to contribute.

“As for statistics, I really like the 28 assists. It was enjoyable to watch them play out there today.”

Thiel coach Artina Trader had different thoughts.

“They [GCC] got hot when they had to,” said Trader. “We just didn’t play good defense when we needed to and they took advantage of it. They played a wonderful ballgame.”

Grove City (10-15, 5-9 Presidents’ Athletic Conference) led by as many as five points during the opening 11 minutes of the game before Thiel battled back to take a 20-18 lead with nine minutes left. The Tomcats, though, went scoreless the remainder of the half as the Wolverines took a 39-20 lead at the intermission.

“We continued to be aggressive and it paid off for us in the run,” said Harris of the 21-0 run. “Whether it was off their made basket or a steal, we continued to attack.”

Grove City shot 44 percent (15-of-34) in the first half and held the Tomcats to 21 percent (7-of-33). Both coaches felt those numbers were due to the defensive effort of the Wolverines.

“We did a good job defensively,” noted Harris. “We forced Thiel to take shots that weren’t ideal for them. I am a perfectionist, but I was really happy with our defensive intensity.”

“We were taking shots that we normally didn’t take, but they also made it a whole lot more difficult with a hand in our face,” added Trader.

Grove City continued its dominance at the start of the second half, going on a 15-2 run to lead 54-22.

Senior Brittany Anderson finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for Grove City in her final home game.

“Going into the game, I had some nerves,” said Anderson. “You just try to treat it like any other game and we had a great team game today. Everyone contributed and it was a nice way to go out here at home.”

Christine Slater came off the bench to lead Grove City with 18 points, while Raeann Szelong and C. J. Beatty added 12 each.

Thiel (7-17, 4-10) was led by Jena Cook with 14 points, Catie Seiber with 11 and Kim Stitt (Hickory) with 10.