MCKENZIE, Tenn. –The Bethel Lady Wildcats continued their home court dominance in SSAC play with a convincing 85-59 victory over visiting Mobile Saturday afternoon in Crisp Arena. Bethel moved to 54-4 in league play and 115-15 all-time in the building. The No. 15 Lady Cats are 13-4 and 3-1 on the season while Mobile dropped to 10-3 and 3-1. Mobile is the last conference team to win in Crisp Arena beating Bethel last year on Senior Day 56-52.
Bethel dominated early and led 23-13 at the end of the first quarter. They continued the onslaught and led at halftime 42-24. Bethel led by as many as 39 late in the contest.
The Lady Cats shot 45 percent from the field hitting 35-of-77 shots. They knocked down 11 three-pointers giving them 129 on the season. Bethel had 22 assists. Millie Bryant led the squad with eight while Mickey Head had five. Morgan Martin led Bethel with 18 points. She connected on three three-pointers giving her 218 in her career. She is within four of tying Kelli Rich for second most in Bethel history. Ty Willis had a double- double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Willis had three of Bethel's nine blocks. She has 34 on the season. Head had five blocks giving her 23 put-backs on the year. Head finished with 10 points while Bryant had 11 tallies. Jani Crawford had eight points and eight rebounds. Ryann Roberts had six points while Ashton Hulme contributed with five points. Ge' Naisha Robinson had five points, four assists and four steals. Bethel had 13 steals in the game. Anya Patterson came off the bench with eight solid minutes and scored four points. Raegan Hohl completed the scoring with two points.
Bethel outrebounded Mobile 43-33 and forced the Rams into 21 turnovers. The Cats had a 29-14 advantage in points off turnovers. The Lady Wildcats had a 49-30 margin in points off the bench.
Lauren Bodino led the Rams with 12 points. Jordan York and Marquise both finished with 11 points.
Coach Chris Nelson commented on the win. "Our ladies played really well today. I thought we came out focused and ready to play. Millie stepped up and played wonderful on both ends. Morgan was in a groove from the very start. Our starting line -up was a little different today but the length of Ge, Mickey and Ty really paid dividends for us on the defensive side of the ball. Ty was battling sickness for the last couple of days but played with tremendous energy and really brought it on both ends of the floor. We will have a couple of days off and gear up for a tough road game at Martin Methodist."
The Lady Wildcats resume play Thursday traveling to arch-rival Martin Methodist for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. Catch the action on WEIO, 100.9 and www.thefarmradio.com. The Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 5 p.m.
