WILLIAMSBURG, Ky. – The No. 24 Bethel Lady Wildcats fell to 2-3 in road action on the season with a 60-46 loss at the University of the Cumberlands Thursday night in Williamsburg. The loss dropped Bethel to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in the Mid-South Conference. The (RV) Lady Patriots improved to 9-2 and 5-2.
A slow start hurt the Lady Wildcats who trailed 17-5 at the end of the first quarter. The second stanza was not much better as the Cats trailed 33-14 at the half. Bethel shot just 14 percent in the first twenty minutes going 4-of-27 from the floor. The Lady Patriots had a 22-13 advantage in rebounds at the break.
After trailing 51-29 at the end of the third quarter, the Lady Wildcats pulled to within 51-34 with seven minutes left. Bethel made another charge late in the game and trailed just 55-46 with three minutes left. The comeback fell short as UC hit free throws to put the game away.
Bethel shot 28 percent from the field hitting 15-of- 52 from the floor. The Lady Cats hit seven three-pointers and were 9-of-14 from the foul line. UC was 19-of-45 from the floor and knocked down eight three's. They hit 14 -of - 23 free throw attempts. CU had a 34-27 margin in rebounds. Both teams had an abundance of turnovers. Bethel had 21 while the Patriots had 25 in the game.
Mickey Head led Bethel with 14 points, 12 of those in the second half. Jani Crawford and Anya Patterson both finished with nine each. Hannah Lawson led UC with a game high 17 points.
Coach Chris Nelson shared his thoughts on the game. "We struggled early tonight with our scoring and got off to a slow start and could never recover. It was very similar to our UPIKE game in the second half when we struggled to score and it affected the way we played defense and our overall energy. UC has a very good and talented basketball team and really took it to us tonight. I was disappointed that we did not take it to them early in the basketball game. We got punched in the face early and waited too late in the game to respond. We have to leave this game in Williamsburg and be ready to bounce back at Pikeville."
The Lady Cats play at UPike Saturday and at Georgetown on Monday. Tip-off Saturday against the Lady Bears is at 12:30 p.m. CST. It will be the 5th meeting between the two programs with UPike leading the series 3-1. The Bears beat Bethel 62-53 December 5 in McKenzie. This will be the first game the Lady Wildcats have played in Pikeville. Pikeville is 7-4 and 3-4. They snapped a three game losing streak with an 80-73 comeback home win over Freed-Hardeman Thursday.
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