MCKENZIE, Tenn. –The No. 11 Bethel Lady Wildcats and the No. 3 Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions squared off Saturday afternoon in Crisp Arena for the 69th meeting between the two programs.
FHU used a 13-0 run in the first quarter to take an early 16-4 lead. The Lady Lions outscored Bethel 22-11 in the second quarter and led at halftime 40-22. FHU secured the game for the most part with a 21-9 advantage in the third and cruised to the victory.
Bethel fell to 2-1 on the year while Freed moved to 2-0. Bethel is 79-10 all-time in Crisp Arena. Six of those ten losses have been to the Lady Lions.
Shamon Pearson led Bethel with ten points. Her basket with 3:30 left in the first quarter moved her into 11th place on Bethel's all-time scoring list. She moved past Ellen Argo and now has 1, 166 career points. She led Bethel with ten points.
Kim Mallory and Sandrea Sylman led FHU scoring 19 points each.
The major factor in the game was shooting. FHU was 28-of-67 from the floor for 41 percent. They knocked down seven three's in the game. Bethel struggled from the floor at 29 percent hitting 18-of-62 attempts. Bethel was just 1-of-15 from the three-point arc. The Lady Wildcats almost had their streak broken with at least one three in a game. They have now hit at least one three in a game for 364 straight games.
Both squads collected 38 rebounds each.
Coach Chris Nelson said his team has to make a commitment to improve. "We are disappointed in the way we played and our ladies have decide to make adjustments to get better. We have no identity right now especially on the offensive end. We have a tough stretch of games and we better get ready to battle on every possession."
The Lady Wildcats return to action next week in the SSAC/MSC Women's Basketball Challenge sponsored by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. The event will be held November 9, 10 and 11.
Three teams from the Southern States Athletic Conference and three squads from the Mid-South Conference will square off for three game each day in Crisp Arena.
The lineup looks like this: All times are CST
Thursday 9th
BMC vs. Campbellsville 3 p.m.
MMC vs. Shawnee State 5:30 p.m.
Bethel vs. Pikeville 8 p.m.
Friday 10th
MMC vs. Campbellsville 3 p.m.
BMC vs. Pikeville 5:30 p.m.
Bethel vs. Shawnee State 8 p.m.
Saturday 11th
MMC vs. Pikeville 1 p.m.
BMC vs. Shawnee State 3:30 p.m.
Bethel vs. Campbellsville 6 p.m.
Three teams are ranked in the 2018 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Coaches' Preseason Top 25 Poll. Shawnee State is No. 5. Campbellsville is ranked No. 6 while Bethel is No. 11. Pikeville and Martin Methodist received votes in the poll.
All games will be aired on Wildcat Vision at www.bethelathletics.com.
Thursday's action will be on WEIO 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com.
