MCKENZIE, Tenn. – Coach Chris Nelson had been looking for more scoring from his bench and Wednesday night he got just that as the Lady Wildcats had a 49-15 advantage in points off the bench in route to a 77-37 win over visiting Fisk University.
No. 11 Bethel moved to 8-3 on the season while Fisk dropped their seventh straight and fell to 2-10.
Bethel is 5-0 at home on the year and is 111-15 all-time in Crisp. Bethel leads the series 6-0.
The Lady Cats streaked out to a 19-7 led at the end of one and led at the half 33-13. The Lady Cats forced the Bulldogs into 16 first half turnovers. Bethel shot 34 percent in the half, hitting 13-of-38 shots while Fisk was 4-of-22 at 18 percent.
Bethel reserves played much of the second half and for the most part played well as Bethel outscored the Bulldogs 44-24 in the final 20 minutes.
Bethel finished shooting 38 percent from the floor. They were 28-of-73 from the field and hit nine three's. Fisk shot 25 percent hitting 14-of-56 attempts from the field. Fisk had 23 turnovers while Bethel had a season low nine on the night. Bethel had a 52-37 margin in rebounds. Nine different Lady Wildcats had four or more rebounds in the game.
Tyasia Willis led the Cats with 15 points and eight rebounds. Jani Crawford hit five three-pointers and finished with 15 points. Fourteen Lady Wildcat appeared in the game and all scored. Jerreca Browning led Fisk with nine points.
Coach Nelson commented on the victory. "I was pleased with our ability to get an early lead which afforded us to play everyone tonight. Jani shot the ball well and we have been waiting on that kind of performance off our bench. Tyasia was very active early and that allowed us to get off to the good start. Tasia (Jones) did a good job distributing the ball and that set the tone in the first half I thought. We have to get ready now for a hard game at Rust Saturday."
The Lady Cats return to action Saturday traveling to Rust College for a 2 p.m. tip-off. Bethel edged Rust 67-64 earlier this season at Crisp Arena.
