MONTGOMERY, Ala. – For the second year in a row and the fourth time overall the Bethel Lady Wildcats will play in a SSAC title game. The No. 6 nationally ranked and No. 1 seeded Lady Cats beat a scrappy No. 5 seeded William Carey squad 61-48 Thursday afternoon in Montgomery. It will be the fourth championship appearance for Bethel in seven years.
The Championships are presented by Newk's Eatery and held at the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama.
Bethel jumped out to a 12-0 lead and led 12-3 at the end of one. The Crusaders scored the first seven points of the second stanza and pulled to within 12-10. Bethel responded with a 14 point unanswered run to lead 26-10. WCU came back with five unanswered points of their own and Bethel lead at the break 26-15. The Lady Wildcats would lead by as many as 14 at 31-17 in the third quarter but again the Crusaders would not go away. WCU trailed Bethel 42-34 at the end of the third. The Lady Wildcats saw their lead shrink to only five at 44-39 but Bethel outscored WCU 17-9 to ice the game and win by thirteen.
Bethel shot 37 percent hitting 17-of-45 attempts from the floor. They hit 5-of-17 three pointers. The Lady Wildcats were superb from the foul line knocking down 22-of-26 attempts. Bethel had a 35-27 advantage in rebounds and a 20-8 margin in points in the paint. Both squads struggled with turnovers. WCU had 20 while Bethel had 19. Bethel had a 16-9 advantage in points off turnovers. WCU shot 31 percent and hit eight three-pointers. Bethel is 3rd in the nation in field goal defense at 33 percent. The Cats are 19-1 when holding opponents to 54 points or less.
Morgan Martin led Bethel with 15 points. She hit two three-pointers giving her a program high 262. She has 1, 392 career points which ranks her 5th on Bethel's all-time scoring list. Millie Bryant followed with 12 points. Tasia Jones had 11 tallies and was 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Ty Willis finished with 10 points and six rebounds. Ge'Robinson had a game high nine rebounds.
McKinley Seal led the Crusaders with 13 points. Bethel is 15-0 all-time versus William Carey.
The No 1 seeded Lady Wildcats moved to 28-4. The Cats have won 20 straight and will make their eighth straight national tournament appearance after capturing the regular season crown for the fifth time in the last seven years. 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.
That winning streak 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.
The Lady Cats are 111-18 all-time against SSAC opponents.
William Carey saw their season end at 14-15.
Coach Chris Nelson knew it would be a tough game. "Today went as we expected it to go. William Carey came out with a lot of fight and grit and would not go away. We had three quick fouls in the third period and they got in the bonus quick. The game was very physical and we never really got into a flow on offense but credit our defense and our leadership in keeping our composure.
It is hard to make it to Saturday and we are excited that this team has another chance to compete for a championship."
Bethel will play Martin Methodist Saturday at 4 p.m. The Hawks defeated Loyola Saturday night in the other semifinal match-up.
The game will be aired on WEIO, 100.9 and at: www.thefarmradio.com
The Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 3:30 p.m. with Dave McCulley and Zach O'Kelley.
Live video:https://ssacsports.tv/
Championship website:
http://www.ssacsports.com/2020-ssac-womens-basketball-championship
