RICHMOND, Ind. – The Panthers (14-4 overall, 8-3 HCAC) bounced back on Saturday afternoon with a dominating win at Earlham, 88-66.
 
Senior Grace Bezold (Covington, Ky.) dominated the opening minutes of the first frame for the Blue and Red scoring 12 straight points to put the Panthers out front 14-5. The offense fired on all cylinders as a freshman Jalynn Brooks (Erlanger, Ky.) layup pushed the lead to double digits. Junior Kaitlyn Lorenzi (Brentwood, Tenn.) closed out the period for a 21-11 difference.
 
Earlham cut the score to 21-16 in the second quarter before Berman sparked a 7-0 run. The largest advantage came right before halftime as junior Lily Ernstes (North Vernon, Ind.) caught a pass from junior Alexis Wines (Lebanon, Ind.) to give Hanover the 41-23 lead.
 
The second half opened in favor of Hanover as a 6-0 run paced by Berman gave them a 47-23 advantage. Sophomore Ava Sowder (Pekin, Ind.) connected from three-point with 5:08 remaining to push the score to 56-31. The scoring frenzy ensued as 12 difference Panthers scored in the contest en route to the HCAC victory.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Senior Grace Bezold – 20 pts. | 8 reb. | 10 of 16 FG
Sophomore Sammy Berman – 19 pts. | 2 Ast. | 3 reb.
 
Hanover returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 29 when they welcome Mount St. Joseph to Collier Arena. Game time is set for 7:00 PM.