MCKENZIE, Tenn. – Two of the very best teams in the nation met Thursday night in Bethel's Crisp Arena in McKenzie as the sixth ranked Bethel Lady Wildcats met No. 16 Loyola.
Neither team disappointed the big crowd as both gave great efforts in what turned out to another classic between the two programs that have been two of the best in the league for the past seven years.
Bethel led at the half 35-34. Loyola scored the first nine points of the third quarter to lead 43-35. The Wolf Pack pushed their lead to 50-40 at one point of the third quarter. Behind the shooting of Morgan Martin, Bethel cut the deficit to 50-49 and the game was on for both squads. The third quarter ended with the Lady Wildcats leading 53-52. Bethel would go on to outscore the visitors from New Orleans 25-17 in the final ten minutes and win 78-69. With the victory, the Lady Wildcats captured the league's regular season championship and in doing so assured themselves of a trip to the national tournament in Billings, Montana. It is Bethel's fifth regular season title in the last seven seasons. It will be Bethel's eighth straight appearance in the national tournament and mark the 11th time in the last 12 seasons to accomplish that feat.
Bethel moved to 25-4 overall and 14-1 in the SSAC. The Lady Cats have won 17 straight. That total is the second best ever in program history. Bethel won 24 in a row in the 2014-15 season when they finished 32-4 and reached the Elite Eight of the national tournament.
Loyola fell to 19-6 overall and 12-4 in the league. Bethel leads the series 10 -7 and is 6- 0 versus LU in McKenzie. The game was the SSAC Game of the Week.
The Lady Wildcats are 14-0 at home on the year. Bethel is 121-15 all-time in Crisp Arena and 59-4 versus SSAC opponents in the building. The Lady Cats are 108-18 all-time against SSAC opponents.
Martin, dubbed as "The Blonde Bomber" by Wildcat fans was just that, knocking down seven three's on her way to a game high 25 points. The all-time leader in made three-pointers finished the night with 252 in her career. Despite being saddled with foul trouble, Tasia Jones had another spectacular game for Bethel finishing with a career high 20 points along with four assists. Millie Bryant also played a key role in the comeback scoring all of her 11 points in the second half. Mickey Head had 10 points and a couple of key assists. Ty Willis, also in foul trouble scored only six points but had a game high 11 rebounds. Ge' Robinson completed the Bethel scoring with six points.
Loyola had four players finish in double digits. Kaila Anthony led LU with 17 points. Anthony, also plagued by foul trouble played just under 16 minutes in the game.
Bethel hit ten three's while Loyola connected on eight in the game. The Wildcats had a 33-24 advantage in rebounding and a 20-13 margin in points off turnovers.
Coach Chris Nelson expressed how proud he was of his team. "Tonight was another classic with our rival Loyola. I was really proud the way our players fought through foul trouble and adversity. Millie really responded in the second half and Morgan came through in clutch moments. Mickey had some timely buckets in the paint for us. I thought Ge and Ty were relentless on the glass especially when the game got tough. Tasia made us go as she always does. She fought foul trouble but stayed locked in and never missed a beat when she got back in there. Tonight was hard fought we and we are proud of the way our ladies responded."
The Lady Wildcats close out the regular season at home Saturday at noon hosting William Carey. It will be Senior Day with ceremonies beginning at 11:40 a.m.
The Countdown to Tip-off Show with Dave McCulley and Zack O'Kelley airs on WEIO, 100.9 and www.thefarmradio.com at 11:30 a.m.
Live video:
http://www.bethelathletics.com/f/WildcatVision.php
Live stats:
http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10
