JACKSON, Tenn. – The Bethel Lady Wildcats beat the Lindenwood- Belleville Lynx 79-51 Friday in the 2018 Jackson Invitational held at famed Oman Arena in Jackson. The event is sponsored by Southwest Tennessee Tourism.
The Lady Wildcats ran their record to 7-1 while LUB fell to 1-5. All five Lynx losses have been to Top 25 ranked teams.
After a 3-3 tie the Lady Cats outscored the Lynx 15-3 to lead 18-6 at the end of the first quarter. They extended that margin to 35-17 at the half. Bethel led 48-33 at the end of the third stanza and won going away with a 29-18 margin in the final quarter.
Bethel shot 50 percent connecting on 30-of-60 attempts from the field. The Lady Wildcats were 11-of-22 from the three-point arc. Bethel had a 35-26 advantage in rebounding. Bethel matched their season high with 19 assists.
The Lady Cats had a 36-19 advantage in points in the paint and a 29-11 margin in bench points.
LUB was 17-of-53 from the floor at 32 percent. They hit 7-of-28 three point attempts.
Bethel was led by Myah Taylor with 16 points and seven rebounds. Millie Bryant followed with 14 points and six boards. Morgan Martin had 11 points and eight rebounds. Ashton Hulme contributed with 11 points.
Brianna Mueller led the Lynx with 21 points.
Coach Chris Nelson commented on the victory. " We are proud to get another win against another top 25 team. Lindenwood Belleville has probably played the toughest schedule in the nation thus far this season and will only improve as the year continues. I thought we had one of our more complete games defensively but we also saw plenty of areas where we had lapses. When they face- guard Myah like that it frees up our weapons and I thought she did a great job sharing. Other people continue to step up and make plays on the offensive end. We were proud of our effort there in the late third and early fourth as they made a run but our girls were able to settle in and finish." Nelson added, "It will be a quick turnaround against a physical athletic team tomorrow evening in Talladega. It will be a total different contrast in styles of what we played against tonight."
Bethel closes out the classic Saturday night versus against the Talladega Tornadoes at 8 p.m.
