GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Grove City College women's basketball team opened the 2021 season Wednesday night by earning a 67-51 home win over Waynesburg in Presidents' Athletic Conference action at the Grove City College Arena.
Four Grove City players scored in double figures, led by a 14-point outing from senior guard
Jess Bowen (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills). Bowen eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career and now has 1,003 total points. Bowen achieved the milestone with two minutes remaining in the second quarter when she deposited a layup after receiving a feed from senior guard
Jordan McConnell (Smithville, Ohio/Smithville). Bowen is the 15th all-time 1,000-point scorer in the 45-year history of the program.
Junior forward
Allison Podkul (Greensburg, Pa./Hempfield) posted a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double. She also recorded five steals. Sophomore guard
Emma Vezzosi (St. Mary's County, Md./Leonardtown) pumped in 10 points and freshman forward
Kat Goetz (Pittsburgh, Pa./Avonworth) debuted with 10 points and a dozen rebounds.
The Goetz and Podkul double-doubles helped Grove City amass a 53-39 rebound advantage. Sophomore center
Nina Cano (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) added 10 rebounds for the Wolverines (1-0, 1-0).
Grove City trailed 4-0 early but took the lead for good with a 14-0 run. Bowen scored eight points during the spurt and Vezzosi fired in six.
Another sizable run late in the second quarter allowed the Wolverines to take a 31-17 lead by halftime. Grove City scored the final nine points of the half while holding Waynesburg scoreless for four minutes. Goetz sparked the run with two free throws while Bowen followed with a layup. Senior guard
Lindsey Stanforth (Novelty, Ohio/West Geauga) followed with a jumper from the foul line that pushed the lead to 28-17. Stanforth then buried a three-pointer with six seconds left in the half, capping the run.
A Goetz putback with 3:08 left in the third quarter gave Grove City a 42-25 lead. Waynesburg whittled the lead to 42-30 by the end of the third quarter but the Wolverines never relinquished their double-digit lead.
Grove City shot 28 of 78 (36 percent) from the field for the game while Waynesburg went 18 of 53 (34 percent). Waynesburg had 26 turnovers and Grove City turned over the ball 20 times.
McConnell led Grove City with six assists and Bowen tallied five assists. Cano blocked two shots and added a pair of steals. Bowen, Stanforth and senior forward
Jessica Kimbrell (Centerville, Ohio/Centerville) also had two steals.
Andrea Orlosky led Waynesburg (0-1) with 18 points.
Grove City honored its eight-woman senior class before Wednesday's game: Bowen,
Sedona Campbell (Slippery Rock, Pa./Slippery Rock),
Steph Croll (Slippery Rock, Pa./Slippery Rock),
Gretchen Elsey (Pulaski, Pa./West Middlesex),
Lauren Frederick (New Wilmington, Pa./Wilmington), Kimbrell, McConnell and Stanforth.
Wednesday night's game represented the first intercollegiate sporting event on the Grove City College campus since February 29, 2020.
Grove City is scheduled to visit Washington & Jefferson in conference action Monday at 7 p.m. That will be a rematch of the 2020 conference tournament title game, won by Grove City, 54-52.
