PULASKI, Tenn. –The Bethel Lady Wildcats traveled to Pulaski Thursday night with a five game winning streak and faced a hot Martin Methodist RedHawk squad that had won three in a row.
The Lady Cats jumped out to a 20-14 lead at the end of the first quarter. MMC battled back to lead 24-22 but Bethel finished the second quarter with an 18- 5 run to lead at the half 40-29.
Bethel continued their surge and took a 16 point lead midway of the third stanza at 51-35. Martin Methodist would get as close as nine late in the game but Bethel closed out the game with a 12-point victory, winning 73-61.
Bethel was 29-of-54 from the floor at 53 percent. They knocked down nine three pointers and were 6-of-11 from the foul line. Bethel won the battle of the boards at 34-26. The Lady Cats had 17 assists. Bethel committed 16 turnovers.
MMC was 21-of-54 at 38 percent and connected on seven three's. The Hawks shot 16 throws and hit 12 on the night. MMC had 10 assists and had 12 turnovers.
Everyone played well for Bethel with Ty Willis leading the way with 20 points and seven rebounds. Morgan Martin finished with 17 points connecting on five three's. She now has 223 career three-pointers and passed former Bethel great Kelli Rich for second on the Lady Wildcat all-time list. Jani Crawford came off the bench with 11 tallies. Mickey Head had a solid performance with eight points and eight boards. G'Nasisha Robinson had six points and four rebounds. Millie Bryant was a warrior as she played despite being ill and finished with six points, two assists and three rebounds. Bethel's floor general, Tasia Jones finished with a game high 10 assists giving her 106 on the year. She also had five points and four rebounds.
Erin Freeman led the Hawks with 14 points.
No. 15 Bethel moved to 14-4 overall and 4-1 in the SSAC. The (RV) Hawks are 10-5 and suffered their first conference loss at 4-1.
It was the 31st meeting between the two programs with Bethel now holding a 21-10 advantage in the series.
Coach Chris Nelson was pleased with the effort and big road win. "We are very excited about a tough road win tonight. Martin Methodist has been playing great and they have a really good ball club. We knew Coach Evans would have them ready and fired up to go tonight. Tasia played great on both ends of the floor and I thought we got great production out of our two and three guards. Morgan is shooting with great confidence and that is huge for us. Ty established her role on the block early and Mickey was able to balance things out when they zoned us a few times." Nelson added, "Ge and Jani gave us huge sparks off the bench. Millie and Ge did a great job on Erin Freeman tonight forcing her to take tough shots. Erin is a great player and our team really did a good job limiting her looks at the basket. We have to stay humble and hungry as we still have big games ahead of us down the stretch."
Bethel returns to action Tuesday hosting Oakwood at 5:30 p.m.
Catch the action on WEIO, 100.9 and at www.thefarmradio.com. The Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 5 p.m.
Live radio:
https://www.thefarmradio.com/
Live video:
http://www.bethelathletics.com/f/WildcatVision.php
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