HENDERSON, Tenn. – Two old foes met Saturday in Henderson and it wound up being a historic classic for the Bethel Lady Wildcats and their fans. No. 24 Bethel upset No. 2 Freed-Hardeman and won for the first time ever in Henderson outlasting the Lady Lions 65-60. It was Bethel's first win in the series since November 2015. The Lady Wildcats improved to 8-6 while FHU dropped to 7-2.
Bethel jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind the early scoring of Shamon Pearson. She hit two three's and added a deuce for eight points in the first quarter. FHU battled back to tie the game at 14 at the end of the quarter.
Jasmine Whittemore along with balanced scoring from others propelled Bethel to another eight point lead at 26-18 in the second quarter. Whittemore scored seven points in the stanza and helped Bethel maintain a lead at 32-25 at halftime. Bethel shot 52 percent from the field in the half while Freed struggled at 21 percent.
Freed outscored Bethel 22-11 in the third quarter and took a 47-43 lead after three. Sandrea Sylman and Kim Mallory combined for 15 points in the quarter to give the Lady Lions the advantage.
Bethel answered behind the play of Briana Fields and won the game with a 22-13 advantage in the fourth quarter. After a hard foul Fields ripped off her headband, threw it into the Bethel bench and the game was on. She had eight of her 10 points and controlled the game from the point. Morgan Martin hit four straight clutch free throws down the stretch and enabled Bethel to make history.
Bethel shot 42 percent from the floor connecting on 22-of-52 attempts. They hit four three's and were 17-of-22 from the foul line. Bethel has hit at least one three-pointer in every game Coach Chris Nelson has coached at the school. They have connected from downtown in 375 straight outings. FHU was 18-of-63 at just 28 percent. They knocked down five three-pointers and finished 19-of- 25 from the foul line. Bethel overcame 17 turnovers with a 41-31 rebound margin. The shooting was a reversal of the earlier game between the two. Bethel had managed just 29 percent in their 74-47 loss in McKenzie. Freed shot 41 percent at Crisp Arena.
The Lady Wildcats are 8-1 when they lead at halftime. They are 8-2 when they out rebound their opponents. Bethel is 8-0 when they outshoot their opponents.
Freed entered the game No. 3 in scoring defense at 47.6. Bethel's 65 points were the second most given up by the Lady Lions this season. They gave up 83 to Lindenwood -Belleville in their only other loss.
Pearson led Bethel with 13 points. Whittemore followed with 12 on the day while Fields finished with 10 tallies. Laurhen Pickett had a game high 10 rebounds and tossed in nine points. Martin had eight points, Brandi Goodman had six, Carnation Hart had four points and Madison Steppee had three. Freshman Millie Bryant did not score but pulled down three valuable rebounds.
Coach Nelson said Bethel's difficult early season schedule is beginning to pay dividends. "We are very proud of the girls to go on the road and get a big win. We have been telling our team that we have made progress and have gotten better in critical areas but our ladies really needed to see the 'W' in the win column. Hopefully our tough schedule is starting to pay off and our team has learned along the way. The biggest thing we are proud of is the fact our team continues to respond when it has been hard and continues to play with passion and toughness. We have had some tough losses but they have responded and today was a good example of our perseverance."
Bethel returns to action Saturday at Crisp Arena hosting SSAC foe Faulkner at 2 p.m. Bethel is 36-1 against conference opponents in the building. Catch the action on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com. The Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 1:30 p.m. The game will also be available on Wildcat Vision at www.bethelathletics.com.
