HATTIESBURG, MS – After a three-hour five overtime marathon 106-100 win over Loyola Thursday night in New Orleans the Bethel Lady Wildcats found themselves in another tight battle Saturday at William Carey. Tied at 58, the Lady Cats pulled away in the last four minutes and won 70-66.
It was Bethel's 15 straight victory and 17th in their last 18 games.
The No. 13 Lady Wildcats moved to 25-3 overall and 17-1 in the SSAC. WCU dropped to 10-13 and 9-10.
The victory gave the Lady Cats the regular season SSAC Championship and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming conference championships in Montgomery.
Bethel has never lost to WCU and now has a 12-0 record overall against the Crusaders. They are 6-0 in Hattiesburg.
Bethel led 13-8 at the end of the first quarter. WCU was 1-of-14 from the floor. Millie Bryant led Bethel with five points. The Lady Cats led 32-25 at the half. Balanced scoring was the story line for Bethel. Bryant had eight points. Morgan Martin, Myah Taylor and Tyasia each had six points. The Crusaders outscored Bethel 24-16 in the third quarter and led 49-48 heading to the fourth stanza. The teams were tied at 58 with just under four minutes left when Brandi Goodman hit a jumper to give Bethel a 60-58 lead. The Cats would never surrender the lead and hang on for a four point victory. Scoring by Taylor and Martin down the stretch proved to be the difference.
Taylor would score 13 of her team high 19 points in the second half. Martin and Bryant finished with 10 each. Willis had nine points and 11 rebounds. Tariah Mouton led WCU with 15 points.
Bethel shot 42 percent hitting 26-of-61 shots. They were 5-of-27 in three-point attempts. The Lady Cats hit 13 of 19 free throw attempts. The teams each yanked down 41 rebounds and both committed 18 turnovers each.
WCU hit 20-of-60 attempts at 33 percent. They were 9-of-28 from the three-point arc. The Crusaders hit 17-of-24 free throw attempts.
Coach Chris Nelson said it was a huge win to clinch the regular season conference title. "We are glad to finish the road trip with a huge win. William Carey was very game today and battled us the way we anticipated. This is the time of year when the season can get long and teams can grow weary but our kids stayed locked in and really showed up in the fourth quarter. We are proud the ladies reached one of their preseason goals of winning the regular season championship but we realize we still have a lot of basketball to play. We wrap up the regular season next week at home and start preparing for the best time of the year."
Bethel closes out the regular season hosting Stillman on Thursday and Mobile on Saturday. It will be Senior Day Saturday at Crisp Arena with ceremonies before tip-off which is scheduled for 2 p.m.
Bethel is 105-14 all-time in Crisp Arena and 49-3 versus SSAC opponents in the building. Bethel is 84-15 all-time in the SSAC.
