MCKENZIE, Tenn. –The No. 21 Bethel Lady Wildcats closed out their three game home stand beating SSAC rival Mobile Monday night 59-50.
The Lady Cats improved to 12-7 overall and 8 -1 in the league. UM fell to 8-8 and 2-6. Bethel is 72-9 all-time in Crisp Arena and 31 -1 against SSAC opponents in the building.
It was the 7th meeting between the two programs. Bethel has a 5-2 advantage in the series. The Lady Wildcats are 5- 0 in McKenzie and 0-2 in Mobile.
The Lady Wildcats never trailed in the game scooting out to a 20-16 lead after one quarter. They took a ten point lead in the second quarter at 32-22 before Mobile scored the last five points of the stanza to pull within five at the break at 32-27.
The Lady Wildcats pushed the margin out to as many as 16 at 52-36 late in the third quarter. Mobile cut the Bethel lead to eight on several occasions but the Lady Cats went on to win by nine.
Bethel shot 38 percent from the field connecting on 20-of-52 shots. Mobile was 18-of-56 at 32 percent. Bethel is 11-1 when they outshoot their opponents. Bethel hit seven three's while the Rams hit six. Bethel was 12-of-17 from the free throw line. Mobile was 8-of-12. The Lady Wildcats doubled Mobile on the boards at 40-20. The Lady Cats are 11-3 when they out rebound an opponent on the season.
Morgan Martin scored 20 points to lead the Lady Wildcats. She nailed three three-pointers in the game. Mariah McKenty also nailed three from outside including a big shot in the fourth quarter when Mobile was trying to come back in the contest. She finished with nine points. Alexis Hardaway grabbed a game high 12 rebounds and added seven points. Shamon Pearson followed with eight tallies.
Sydney Westry led Mobile with 20 points. She was 5-of-7 from behind the arc. Bethel held Mobile's Starla Daggan to just two points on the night. The reigning SSAC Player of the Week entered the game averaging 22 points per game which is fourth best in the nation.
Coach Chris Nelson was pleased with everyone but especially his seniors. "Our three seniors did the dirty work for us tonight with defense and rebounding and the freshman Morgan Martin came in the game ready to bounce back from Saturday's game. I feel the last couple games were not pretty but we continue to find ways to win with our defense. Shamon (Pearson) did a good job on Daggan tonight and Cayla's (Sheets) defense was superb. Mariah hit some big shots for us throughout the contest. Anytime Lex (Hardaway) can get in double digit rebounds I feel like it is a good night.
Another tough test on the road Thursday night at Faulkner faces us as we wrap up the first round of conference play."
The Lady Cats travel to Faulkner University Thursday and return home on January 26 to host William Carey. Fans can watch the Faulkner game at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/faulkner/
