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Terre Haute

Coverage of the women's Final Four

2002 season

Bethany 79, Benedictine 58
BETHANY, W.Va. — Led by four players in double figures, the Bethany women won their first-ever postseason game Wednesday night with a 79-58 victory over visiting Benedictine in the first round of the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament.

The Bison (22-6) now advance to the second round, where they will play at Wilmington on Saturday, March 2, for a 3 p.m. tip-off. Under first-year head coach Chris Hitchcock, the Benedictine finishes another successful campaign and its best season in four years with a record of 18-8.

The Eagles looked like they might run the Bison out of their own gym, as the visitors took nine-point leads on three separate occasions. But the tide started to turn with the Bison trailing 33-24 with four minutes to play. That's when sophomore Katie Tetzlaw hit a 3-pointer and was fouled. She hit the ensuing foul shot and started a 12-2 half-ending run that gave the Bison a 36-35 lead at intermission.

In the second half, the teams stayed close until another Bison run put the game away. Leading 48-42 with 14 minutes left, Bethany went on a 13-2 spurt to extend their lead to 61-44 and the hosts never looked back. During that run, sophomore forwards Kelley Richardson and Katie Hardie scored six and four points respectively.

The key to the second half was shooting, as the Eagles went cold and Bethany picked it up. After shooting 39% in the opening half and 50% (5-for-10) from the arc, Benedictine was 9-for-30 from the field and 0-for-8 from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, Bethany rebounded from a 31% effort in the first half to knocking down 14 of 28 attempts in the second half.

Bethany's offense was led by Richardson, who finished with 25 points and eight rebounds. Hardie totaled 18 points and 10 boards, while Tetzlaw (12 points) and junior guard Kiki Cohen (10 points), also finished with double digits.

Benedictine was led by forward Jennifer Olson with 15 points and 13 rebounds, guard Morgan Bahe with 11 points and guard Val Pesch tossed in 10 markers.

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