MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The No.16 Bethel Lady Wildcats captured their ninth straight win Saturday afternoon beating visiting Middle Georgia State 107-52 in Crisp Arena. It was the second of five straight home games for the Lady Cats. The 107 points is a season high for the Cats.
Bethel moved to 19-3 overall and 11 -1 in the SSAC while MGS dropped to 7-12 and 4-9. The Lady Cats are 8-0 versus MGS and have a 3-0 margin in games played in McKenzie The Lady Cats are 10-1 at home and 9- 1 on the road. They are 1-1 in neutral site games. Bethel is 102-14 all-time in Crisp Arena. They are 46-3 against SSAC foes in the arena. Bethel is 80 -15 all-time versus SSAC opponents.
After leading 27-17 at the end of the first quarter, the Lady Cats blew the game open with a 25-11 advantage in the second stanza. They led at the break 42-28. Bethel shot 48 percent from the field while holding MGS to 36 percent. Bethel had only eight turnovers while the Knights had 18 in the game. The Lady Wildcats had a season high 31 assists.
Morgan Martin had a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Martin has scored 958 points in her career as a Lady Cat. The junior from Bradford is 42 points from becoming the 16th player in Lady Wildcat history to score 1,000 points or more.
The nation's leading scorer Myah Taylor scored 16 points while Tyasia Willis added 19 on the night. Taylor hit three three-pointers giving her a nation leading 93 on the season. Jani Crawford came off the bench with 12 tallies.
Bethel hit 16 three's giving them a nation leading 222 on the season. They have hit 33 in their last two outings. The Cats had a 47-24 rebound advantage in the game. The Wildcats outrebound their opponents by almost 12 per game which is 2nd in the nation.
Bethel is 18-1 when they lead at halftime. They are 1-2 when trailing at the break. They are 17-2 when they out rebound their opponent. Bethel is 1-1 when losing the battle of the boards. They are 1-0 when tied in rebounding. The Lady Cats are 17-1 when they out shoot their foes. They are 2-2 when outshot. Bethel is 15-0 when they make more free throws in a game. They are 4-3 when the opponent makes more free throws and 13-1 when the opponent has more turnovers per game. The Lady Wildcats have hit at least one three-pointer in 414 straight games. The team has hit at least one three-pointer in every game Coach Chris Nelson has coached at Bethel. He is 279-135 and is in his 13th season with the Lady Wildcats.
Nelson commented on the win. "Our passing was outstanding tonight as we finished with 31 assists. Our good and open looks were results who how we looked for each other. Morgan was on top of her game and as always played so hard. Ty Willis gave us great energy and ran the court beautifully. Rebounding and defense were also big keys. We will continue to work hard and work on several issues we need to improve on."
Bethel will play host to Florida College Thursday at 5:30 p.m. Bethel beat Florida College 88-60 in early January.
Fans can listen to the action on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com. The Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 5 p.m.
Live video:
http://www.bethelathletics.com/WildcatVision
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http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10
Live audio:
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