NEW ORLEANS, LA – Two of the hottest teams in the nation squared off Thursday night in a key SSAC Showdown. The Bethel Lady Wildcats ranked 13th in the country and riding a 13 game winning streak visited the Den on the campus of Loyola University in New Orleans. The Lady Cats had won 16 of their last 17 games. After a January 10 loss at Bethel the No. 25 Lady Wolf Pack had ripped off 10 straight victories.
In a three-hour and five-overtime game, the 13th ranked Lady Cats prevailed over the Pack 106-100. The game lived up to its billing as the SSAC Game of the Week.
Bethel improved to 24 -3 overall and 16-1 in the SSAC. The Pack dropped to 21-6 and 15-3. Loyola had won 17 of their last 18 games.
It was the 14th meeting between the two conference powers. Bethel owns a 9-5 advantage in the series. The Cats are 4-3 in New Orleans.
Bethel led 23-12 after one and 41-29 at the half. Loyola outscored the Lady Cats 26-12 in the third and grabbed a 55-53 lead after three. The Lady Cats and had a 20-18 advantage in the fourth and the game went to the first overtime tied at 73. The teams found themselves tied at 93 all after the first four overtimes. Bethel had a 13-7 margin in the fifth overtime to win by six.
The five overtime affair is the longest in Lady Wildcat history.
Myah Taylor who entered the game as the nation's third leading scorer, scored a career high 39 points. She had five three's in the game giving her 108 on the season. She has the single season record for most made three's in Lady Cat history. Bradford's Blonde Bomber, Morgan Martin scored 12 points and grabbed a game high 21 rebounds. She finished the game with 1, 006 career points becoming only the 16th Lady Wildcat to score 1,000 points or more in a career. Tyasia Willis scored a career high 27 points and collected 19 rebounds.
Kaila Anthony led the Pack with 27 points. Megan Worry followed with 25 tallies.
An exuberant Coach Chris Nelson said, "This was a game for the ages. Hats off to both teams for a whirl wind of a game. Both teams showed grit and toughness. We had numerous players step up throughout the game. I was especially proud of how our kids reacted in timeouts and when we had to go on to each over time. Our huddles were great and the positive talk and body language showed how much we have matured as a group throughout this season."
The game was the first of two games on the road as the Lady Cats travel to William Carey Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip-off. Bethel closes out the regular season next week hosting Stillman on Thursday and Mobile on Saturday.
Any win in Bethel's three remaining conference games will clinch the regular season SSAC title.
