MONTGOMERY, Ala. –The Bethel Lady Wildcats matched their season high in made three-pointers with 14 erasing a ten point first quarter deficit to beat Mobile 87-70 in the quarterfinals of the Southern States Athletic Conference Championships Thursday in Montgomery, Alabama. Bethel hit 14 three's in their season opener against Hiwassee.
After taking a 2-0 lead the Lady Wildcats trailed 19-9 at one point. A 35-foot contested three pointer made by Morgan Martin at the end of the first quarter seem to ignite the Lady Wildcats. They trailed 21-20 at the close of the quarter.
No. 3 seeded Bethel outscored No. 6 seeded Mobile 24-16 in the second stanza to lead at halftime 44-37. They had a 27-19 advantage in the third and led 71-56 at the end of three. Bethel upped the lead to as many as 20 in the fourth quarter and cruised to their 20th win of the season. The Lady Cats are 20-9 while Mobile ended their season at 14-15.
Shamon Pearson and Martin both finished with five three's each. Jasmine Whittemore had three long range bombs while Millie Bryant had the other deep strike. Pearson led the attack with 26 points which matched her career high at Bethel. She also had a game high nine rebounds. Madison Steppee had eight points and seven boards. Martin finished with 23 and Whittemore had 11 tallies. Kelsey Pinera led the Rams with 13 points.
Bethel had a 37-31 rebound advantage and committed only nine turnovers in the game.
The Lady Cats had a 36-21 advantage in points off the bench. Bethel is 7-0 when scoring 80 or more points in a game.
Coach Chris Nelson said it was a team win, "That was a lot of fun this morning for our players, coaches and fans. It started the way we anticipated with Mobile coming out hot and having a lot of energy early. I was proud of our ladies for staying the course and fighting the early storm. We got settled in and really started sharing the ball and Jas and Morgan hits some big shots. I thought Shamon set the tone for our team by being aggressive on both ends of the court. It was a total team effort as we had different players step up. March 1st just brings a different type of excitement and our players were thrilled to get the first round win."
Bethel meets No. 2 seeded Loyola Friday at 1 p.m. in the semi-finals. Loyola beat No. 7 seeded Blue Mountain 80-53 Thursday.
The teams met only once on the regular season. The January 13th game in McKenzie was snowed out. Loyola beat Bethel 57-55 in New Orleans. Di'Mond Jackson led the Pack with 22 points. Zoie Miller followed with 15. Martin led Bethel with 15 points. Bri Fields and Whittemore both tossed in ten points.
Neither team shot the ball particular well. LU shot 30 percent while the Cats shot 30 percent from the floor. One of the huge factors was free throw shooting. Loyola was 18-of-22 from the foul line while Bethel was just 2-of-4 from the free throw stripe. Bethel outrebounded Loyola 48-41.
Catch the Lady Cats on the air on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com. Friday's Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 12:30 p.m.
