JACKSON, Tenn. – The No. 16 Bethel Lady Wildcats used a 14-0 unanswered run in the third quarter to beat No. 9 Columbia College 63-53 Saturday night in the final game of the 2019 Jackson Invitational. Trailing 32-29, The Lady Cats surged ahead at 43-32 and never trailed again on the night.
Columbia would get as close as three at 56-53 but the Lady Cats would hold on to win to move to 7-3 on the season. The Cougars lost for the second night in a row and fell to 6-2. There were nine lead changes in the game.
Bethel shot 39 percent hitting 23-of-58 shots while the Cougars were 18-of-53 at 34 percent. Bethel was 4-of-17 from three-point range while Columbia was 7-of-22. Bethel was 13-of-19 from the foul line. The Cougars were 10-of-13. The Lady Wildcats had a 34-29 advantage in rebounds. Columbia committed 22 turnovers while the Lady Cats had 17 on the night. Bethel had a 43-29 margin in points in the paint.
Mickey Head led the Cats with 13 points and seven rebounds. Morgan Martin contributed with 12 tallies while Millie Bryant followed with 11 points. Tasia Jones had two big baskets late in the game and finished with 10 points. Tyasia Willis pulled down a game high 13 rebounds giving her 29 in the two games over the weekend.
Mai Nienhueser led the Cougars with 12 points. She also had a team high nine rebounds.
Coach Chris Nelson said he was proud of his team and their effort. "I am really pleased and proud of our bounce back effort against a good Columbia team. I thought our bench energy was terrific and our kids played inspired after a tough overtime loss Friday night. We are beginning to get production in areas we have been stressing to our squad." He added, "It has been a busy November mentally and physically and our ladies have done a great job battling competition and adversity. We will give them a couple of days off to focus on finals and then look forward to a big December."
The Lady Wildcats return to action Wednesday night playing host to Fisk University. Tip-off in Crisp Arena is slated for 6 p.m. Bethel leads the series 5-0 and is 4-0 at home versus the Bulldogs. The Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 5: 30 p.m.
Live video:
http://www.bethelathletics.com/f/WildcatVision.php
Live stats:
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Live audio:
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