TUSCALOOSA, Ala.-The No. 16 Bethel Lady Wildcats won their fifth straight with a 78-73 win at Stillman College Thursday night in Tuscaloosa. Bethel ran their record to 15-3 and 7-1 in the SSAC. The Tigers fell to 7-8 and 3-5. It was the first meeting ever between the two programs.
Bethel used a 21-11 run in the second quarter to run out to a 38-27 lead at halftime. Myah Taylor led Bethel with 11 points while Tyasia Willis followed with 10 points. Freshman Ashton Hulme had a nice half with seven points, three rebounds and two assists.
The Lady Wildcats opened the third quarter with seven unanswered points to lead 45-27. Taylor scored 10 of Bethel's first 12 points in the quarter and Bethel led 50-29 at the 6:20 mark. She would go on to score 15 points in the quarter and the Lady Cats led 64-47 at the end of three.
Stillman surged back and pulled within four at 75-71 with less than a minute left but the Lady Cats held on for the 78-73 victory.
The Cats shot 41 percent hitting 23-of-55 shots from the field. Bethel knocked down nine three-pointers. An impressive effort from the free throw line was a huge key for the Lady Cats hitting 23-of 26 attempts. Bethel had a 38-36 advantage in rebounds. The Lady Tigers hit 25-of-61 shots at 42 percent. They hit 10 three's and were 11-of -18 from the free throw line.
Taylor, the nation's leading scorer finished with a career high 37 points. Hulme has 14 tallies while Willis had 13 points. Willis also had a game high nine rebounds. Alexis Hall led the Tigers with 18 points.
Coach Chris Nelson expressed how proud he and the staff were of the Lady Cats. "We had some ladies step up and play some big minutes with key players out of the line-up. Ashton has experienced some ups and downs since the break but she responded tonight when called upon and was ready on both ends of the floor. Both our point guards controlled the tempo and created good looks in transition and also combined for ten assists. We were able to build a 21 point lead in the third and then the game was stopped due to someone spraying pepper spray behind the scorer's table. Stillman made a run after that but our ladies settled back in and Myah did what Myah does and hit some big buckets every time it got close." He concluded, "Our staff is really proud of the effort, especially on a night when they could have made excuses but instead they fought hard and through the adversity of the night."
The Lady Cats continue their three game road trip traveling to Mobile for a Saturday match-up against the Lady Rams. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. They meet Blue Mountain Monday night in Blue Mountain, Mississippi.
