MONTGOMERY, Ala. – No. 2 seed Bethel (Tenn.) and No. 4 seed Mobile (Ala.) will battle for the 2017 SSAC Women's Basketball Championship, presented by Newk's Eatery, Saturday at 4 p.m., after each team advanced in Friday's semifinals. Mobile toppled top seed Loyola (La.) in come-from-behind fashion, while Bethel hit 16 triples to take down No. 6 Faulkner (Ala.).
No. 2 Bethel def. No. 6 Faulkner 66-46
· The Wildcats started the game 4-for-4 from 3-point range, leading to a 16-for-37 effort for the game, compared to 2-of-12 for the Eagles.
· Cayla Sheets (4-for-8) and Mariah McKenty (7-for-11) combined to go 11-for-19 from distance to finish with 12 and 21 points, respectively. Morgan Martin added 11 points and seven boards for Bethel.
· Faulkner got 14 points from Chelsea Burt, 12 points from Faith LeGate and 14 rebounds from Olivia Adamson.
· The teams both shot 35% overall, but the discrepancy from behind the arch proved to be enough, as the teams combined for only 21 free throw attempts.
· Bethel led start-to-finish and built a permanent double-digit lead at the 3:22 mark of the second quarter thanks to an 11-2 run, capped by a 3-ball from Martin.
No. 4 Mobile def. No. 1 Loyola 65-59
· Loyola built a 59-53 lead with 2:16 to play, but Mobile closed the game on a 12-0 run, taking the lead for good with 37 ticks remaining on Kali Koenig's 3-ball from the corner.
· Starla Daggan led Mobile with 19 points, Koenig added 18 and Alicia Curry finished with a double-double of 10 points and 21 rebounds.
· Loyola got 16 points from Kaila Anthony, 15 points and four assists from Zoie Miller and eight points and 16 rebounds from Meghan Temple.
· Mobile held a slim edge in rebounding at 41-36, while Loyola hit eight triples, compared to four for the Lady Rams. Both teams shot 33% from the field.
· Loyola led for the majority of the opening half, but only stretched the lead to five, before pushing it to six to start the third quarter. Mobile answered with a 6-0 run to tie it before pushing the lead to a game-high seven, which they held until Loyola battled back late to take the aforementioned six-point lead.
Bethel and Mobile split during the regular season. Bethel lost 69-69 in Mobile but won in McKenzie 59-50.
Bethel Coach Chris Nelson said, "Talk about a total team effort! Our girls came out strong and did a wonderful job being so detailed in our zone offense to create clean looks. Our team has made sacrifices all year for each other and it shows on the court in how we have a different hero each night and how happy they are for each other's success. Cayla did a great job moving the ball for us and finding our shooters but so many details from each player created those open shots. Mariah was great from outside and equally impressive on the defensive end. Shamon and Lex (Hardaway) and Morgan were all great threats at the high post. It starts with our defense and our bench brought the energy for us tonight. We are very proud for the opportunity to play for a conference championship tomorrow and we know we have to bring our best effort versus a prepared and talented Mobile team."
The Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 3:30 p.m. on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com. Dave McCulley and Zach O'Kelley will have the call from Montgomery. The conference live video feed will also be available at https://portal.stretchinternet.com/ssac/
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