The Bethany women’s basketball team is off to an impressive start in the 2021-22 season.
Following an opening loss to Muskingum, the Bison have reeled off five straight wins and are 2-0 in Presidents’ Athletic Conference play. Tuesday head coach Brian Sansom and company welcome Juniata to the Bethany campus for a non-conference matchup.
A win here is more than just a six-game winning streak. It would equal the program’s best start in 19 seasons.
The last time Bethany started this strongly, then head coach Jina DeRubbo led the Bison to a PAC championship and NCAA tournament berth during the 2002-03 season. The team finished 23-5 that season.
“If we win (Tuesday) night, it will tie the best start in 19 seasons,” Sansom said. “The difference? The team is buying in. They are playing defense, pushing the pace offensively, and in the last two years, the talent we’ve brought in has really risen.”
The road back to PAC prominence has been a tough one. But if Sansom and company want to challenge annually for conference titles and NCAA tournament berths, the way it did during the late 1990s and early 2000s; this is where it starts.
The Bison’s most recent victory proved the team is heading in the right direction.
Down 15 late to Grove City, the Bison rallied behind freshman guard Ashleigh Wheeler, whose team-high 24 points, coupled with 23 from sophomore and reining PAC Rookie of the Year Makenzee Mason, helped lead the Green & White to a cherished 73-70 win.
That win not only handed Grove City its first PAC loss of the season, avenged a loss to the Wolverines last season, but also created an immense boost to the Bison’s confidence level.
A win against Juniata, and the Bison will be 6-1 heading into a pre-holiday matchup with conference stalwart Washington & Jefferson, under the direction of DeRubbo.
These are the games that Sansom knows his team needs to win.
“Nothing against some of the other teams, but those games against Grove City, W&J, St. Vincent, and Chatham, those are the ones we need to be consistent in winning,” Sansom said. “Coming back from 15, that was a huge confidence boost. We’ve talked a lot about raising the standard of our program and beating the top echelon teams. Doing that will change this program.”
Makenzee Mason 
Lindsey Garrison
Youth Movement
When you return the conference’s top freshman for her sophomore season, it’s a good place to start.
She’s averaging 13.2 points per game, 5.2 rebounds, and is shooting nearly 40 percent from the floor. That’s what you want out of one of your top returnees.
But Mason is far from having to go it alone. A major help, and the continued driving force of the youth movement, is the play of Wheeler and fellow freshman Lindsey Garrison, a pair of OVAC products.
Wheeler was an all-Ohio point guard at Shenandoah, and her penchant for taking over a game when necessary has carried over to the collegiate level. She’s scored 18 or more three times, and other times Wheeler distributed the ball and let her teammates do the damage.
Her freshman counterpart can certainly do that. Garrison is the team’s leading scorer at 18.5 points per game.
In back-to-back wins against Allegheny and Penn State New Kensington, Garrison finished with 31 and 29 points, respectively. Included in that barrage is a two-night total of 16 3-pointers on 29 attempts. She’s third in the PAC in scoring and first in both 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage.
Her nine triples in a game set a Bethany single-game record as well as helped the former all-stater in West Virginia to a Rookie of the Week award.
Sansom had a feeling both would acclimate themselves quickly to the college game and play major roles by season’s end—but maybe not this quickly.
“Yes and no,” Sansom said when asked if he felt Wheeler and Garrison would be as big a part of the picture as they are already. “Yes, in the sense I didn’t think it’d happen this quickly; maybe it would take them half a season to really get comfortable and learn how to play college basketball. But also no, because I know their work ethic. They are gym rats. They watch a lot of films, are students of the game, and just love basketball.”
Fellow sophomore Bella Skobel has played only two games whilst battling injuries but is averaging 8.5 per game and will be a major fixture once she’s 100 percent healthy.
Veterans Buying In
Skobel isn’t the only Bison coming along off an injury. Senior and returning starter Kelsie Meintel is a mainstay in the paint. Bethany employs a type of four-guard look with the one true post in the middle. Meintel typically is that post and has been for a number of years. But the Cameron product too is battling back from an injury and her minutes, while still low, are slowly increasing. In her stead, Taylor Stinnet has done an admirable job filling in and actually leads BC in rebounds.
Another former Cameron Dragons’ standout and fellow senior Courtney Walker is making contributions as well. She’s started, and also came off the bench to provide valuable minutes and leadership.
Her role may have been a bet redefined with the infusion of game-changing underclassmen, but Sansom noted all his players are on board with the overall direction the team is headed.
“We’ve had a lot of meetings with players and talked about their roles and everyone has done a great job accepting what their role is, and that’s allowed us to be successful as well,” Sansom admitted.
Egos aren’t getting in the way. The goal is winning, and it’s a singular focus. That’s not to say Walker isn’t having an impact. She’s still averaging 8.3 per game, including double digits in the first three games of the season.
It’s a good sign of things to come for Sansom and his charges. It’s a long season, and there’s plenty of unfinished business left. The road will likely get a little bumpy, so the coach is quick to say his team hasn’t arrived yet.
“That win on Saturday, that tells me we’re a pretty good team, but we’ve got a lot more to learn,” Sansom said. “I won’t say we’ve arrived. But we’re on the bus and we’re on our way.”
