MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Lady Wildcats honored their seniors Saturday afternoon in Crisp Arena but unfortunately dropped a heartbreaker to the Mobile Lady Rams 56-52.
Brandi Goodman, Myah Taylor, Madison Steppee and manager Dieondria Pitts were honored in pregame ceremonies.
The No. 13 Lady Wildcats saw their 16 game winning streak snapped with the loss. It was just the fourth league loss ever in Crisp Arena for the Lady Wildcats.
Bethel dropped to 26-4 overall and 18-2 in the SSAC. Mobile moved to 13-17 and 11-9. Despite the loss the Wildcats still hold a 9-5 advantage in the series.
Bethel is 106-15 all-time in Crisp Arena. They are 50 -4 versus SSAC opponents in the building. Bethel is 86- 16 all-time against SSAC foes.
The Lady Wildcats led 28-26 at the half. The Lady Cats had a seven point lead with 54 seconds in the third. The Rams scored the last four points of the stanza and Bethel's lead was shaved to 39-36 at the end of three. In a nip and tuck fourth quarter Bethel's Myah Taylor nailed a three-pointer to give the Lady Cats a 50-48 lead with 1:47 in the game. Mobile then outscored the Cats 8-2 to win the game 56-52.
Bethel struggled from the field shooting just 26 percent at 18-of-69 from the floor. They hit nine three's and were 7-of- 13 from the foul line. Bethel had a 51-45 rebound advantage. Mobile was 21-of-60 at 35 percent. They hit four three-pointers. The Rams were 10-of-13 from the free throw stripe. Both squads struggled with turnovers. Mobile had 19 while Bethel had 17. The Lady Wildcats have committed 40 turnovers in their last two outings. They played both games without one of their point guards as Tasia Jones has been out with an injury. She is expected to back for the SSAC Championships.
Taylor, Morgan Martin and Tyasia Willis led Bethel with 12 points each. Janae Strode led Mobile with a game high 20 points.
Coach Chris Nelson said, "This is a disappointing loss. I sense the winning streak had given some of our kids a false mindset. We cannot take anything for granted right now. Mobile made some big plays and key shot there at the end. We also had a couple of key breakdowns on defense. Forty turnovers in the last two games is obviously too many. We will regroup and work on getting that edge back for Montgomery next week."
The seeds are set for the 2019 SSAC Women's Basketball Championship, presented by Newk's Eatery, with regular season champion Bethel topping the list.
Seeds
1. Bethel (18-2)
2. Loyola (17-3)
3. Martin Methodist (13-7)
4. Brewton-Parker (13-7)
5. Mobile (11-9)
6. Stillman (10-10)
7. William Carey (9-11)
8. Faulkner (7-13)
9. Middle Georgia State (6-14)
10. Florida College (3-17)
Tiebreakers: Martin Methodist wins the tiebreaker with Brewton-Parker due to their 2-0 record in head-to-head meetings. Florida College wins the tiebreaker with Blue Mountain due to their 2-0 record v. Mobile.
The Schedule
Wednesday, February 27
Game 1 | 9:00 a.m. | #7 William Carey v. #10 Florida College
Game 2 | 12:30 p.m. | #8 Faulkner v. #9 Middle Georgia State
Thursday, February 28
Game 3 | 9:00 a.m. | #3 Martin Methodist v. #6 Stillman
Game 4 | 12:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 1 v. #2 Loyola
Game 5 | 4:30 p.m. | Winner of Game 2 v. #1 Bethel
Game 6 | 8:00 p.m. | #4 Brewton-Parker v. #5 Mobile
Friday, March 1
Game 7 | 1:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 3 v. Winner of Game 4
Game 8 | 5:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 5 v. Winner of Game 6
Saturday, March 2
Championship Game | 4:00 p.m. | Winner of Game 7 v. Winner of Game 8
Odds & Ends
· No. 13 Bethel and No. 25 Loyola are ranked in the latest NAIA Women's Basketball Top-25 Poll
· Loyola and Faulkner share the longest current winning streak heading into the tournament, at two games
· Loyola won last year's tournament
· Myah Taylor (Bethel) leads the league with 23 points per game, Joy Hadley (Brewton-Parker) leads with 9.7 rebounds per game and 4.0 blocks per game and Ilyn Spann (Middle Georgia) leads with 5.0 assists per game
Catch Bethel's games on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com. The Countdown to Tip-off Show will air at 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon.
