Box Score
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Kelly Richardson scored a game-high 30 points and Katie Hardie added 17 of her 23 in the decisive second-half to lift Bethany over Gettysburg 81-74 in the opening round of the 12th Annual Days Inn Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday.
Richardson converted 11 of 16 shots on the night and also added a game-high 16 rebounds as the Bison (9-3) advanced to meet Gwynedd-Mercy in Saturday's championship game.
The Griffins got 23 points from their big-time scorer Mary Anne Wade and downed York (Pa.) 76-53 in the tournament's other first-round matchup.
Elizabeth Ross (Chestertown, MD/St. Andrew's) scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Bullets (6-5) and added 12 rebounds for her second career double-double. Dana Bear (Lansdale, PA/Lansdale Catholic) added a season-best 21 points, her first 20-point outing of the season.
Despite rallying several times in a second half that featured six ties and six lead changes, Gettysburg couldn't overcome Hardie's heroic in dropping its third straight game.
The Bullets led for the final time at 59-56 on Jen Nolan's (Germantown, MD/Seneca Valley) 3-pointer with 8:24 remaining before Nicole Naccarato converted two free throws and Hardie drilled a three from the left side of the circle to give the Bison a two-point lead.
Steph Drevna (Lancaster, PA/Lancaster Catholic), who finished with 12 points, hit a spinning pull-up jumper to knot the game at 61, but Naccarato converted 1 of 2 free throws to give Bethany the lead for good and spark a 7-1 burst that made it 68-62 with 3:10 remaining.
The Bullets answered with an inside layup from Jay Hodge (Silver Spring, MD/St. Vincent Pallotti) and two free throws from Bear to pull within two, but an offensive foul led to two Richardson free throws and Naccarato finished a steal-and-breakaway on the ensuing possession for a 72-66 lead.
Gettysburg would get no closer than five points in the final 1:40.
Leading 34-32 at halftime, the Bison jumped to a seven-point cushion before the Bullets used a 9-0 run to take a 41-39 lead on a Hodge layup with 16:40 left.
After Richardson and Kristy Baker scored to put Bethany back on top, Hardie scored her team's next seven points to keep the Bison even with their hosts.
Bear and Ross accounted for all 15 of Gettysburg's points during the same stretch before Nolan scored her only three points of the night to give the Bullets their final lead of the game with just over eight minutes to play.
Gettysburg jumped out to a 28-20 lead in the first half, but Bethany erased that deficit with nine straight points and went on to take a two-point lead into the locker room.
Ross shot 10-for-16 on the night while Bear knocked down a season-high four 3-pointers.
Naccarato dished out a game-high seven assists while Nikki Babik added eight points in the win, including a key 6-for-6 showing from the free-throw line late in the game.
The Bullets return to action on Saturday against York (Pa.) in the Days Inn consolation game at 1 p.m.
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