January 12, 2005
Late comeback falls short against Behrend
GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College women's basketball team nearly erased a 12-point deficit in the final 1:50 but their comeback effort came up short as the Wolverines fell to visiting Penn State Behrend, 52-51, Wednesday night at the Grove City College Arena.
Grove City (7-6) trailed Behrend 51-39 with 1:50 left but put together a 12-1 run during the final two minutes. The Wolverines had a chance to win the game at the buzzer but a running jumper by senior guard Rachel Romance (East Springfield, Pa./Northwestern) bounced off the rim as time expired.
Romance, senior Jocelyn Kempema (Fort Atkinson, Wis./Edgewood) and freshman Shannon Overdorff (Eighty Four, Pa./United) each tossed in 11 points. Romance had a career-high nine steals and also pulled in five rebounds.
Overdorff, who set a career high with 11 points, ignited the late run with a jumper that trimmed Behrend's lead to 51-41. Romance followed with a three-pointer and later drained two free throws that cut the lead to five with 38 seconds left.
Following a Behrend free throw, Kempema cut the lead to 52-49 with a three-pointer. Grove City then forced a turnover and a Romance putback slashed the lead to one with 14 seconds left. Behrend's Kristie Connolly missed two free throws with eight seconds left but the Wolverines could not complete the comeback.
Grove City trailed 22-14 at the half and trailed by as many as 17 in the second half. For the game, Grove City shot just 29 percent (17 of 59) from the floor. The Wolverines entered the game ranked 15th nationally in field goal percentage at 45.4 percent.
Kempema led Grove City with eight rebounds, helping the Wolverines own a 37-36 edge on the glass. Tenesha Aden led Behrend (6-5) with 21 points and nine rebounds. The loss snaps Grove City's eight-game win streak against Behrend.
Grove City had also won four consecutive home games prior to Wednesday's game. The Wolverines open Presidents' Athletic Conference play Saturday afternoon against Westminster at 1 p.m.
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