MARIETTA, Ga. –With two starters out the Bethel Lady Wildcats were still able to bounce back with a 69-59 win at Life University Saturday afternoon. Jani Crawford and Millie Bryant were unavailable to play in the game.
Bethel improved to 11-11 overall and 6-9 in the MSC. The Eagles dropped to 2-10 and 0-9. It was Life's eighth straight loss.
An individual highlight came in the first quarter when Bethel's Mickey Head hit a field goal to reach the 1,000 career point mark. Head finished the game with 14 points giving her 1,012 career points. Head scored 482 points at Martin Methodist before transferring to Bethel.
Behind eight points by Ryann Roberts and six by Christen King Bethel led 18-17 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Cats led 32-27 at the half and led 44-38 at the end of three. Head and Ever Walker provided the offense in the third. The Lady Wildcats were able to escape the upset bid by the Eagles behind great free throw shooting by Anya Patterson who hit 14-of-16 charity tosses in the final stanza. Patterson tied Head for scoring honors with 14 for the Cats. Patterson also had 10 assists in the game. Roberts followed with 12 points. Walker had nine points. Ashton Hulme scored eight points and grabbed a career high 15 rebounds. King finished with eight points and six boards. Madison Henegar pulled down seven rebounds and scored four points.
The Lady Cats had a season high 55 rebounds and a 55-41 margin in the game.
Sydni Tears led all scorers with 32 points.
Coach Chris Nelson was excited for his team. "Our ladies needed and deserved tonight's win. This team has faced a lot of adversity all year but they still continue to respond and bounce back. Anya stepped up big tonight for our team and handled the offense well. Our whole team did a wonderful job on the glass and Ashton really played with a purpose. Mickey had some big time possessions on offense and helped control things on both ends of the floor. Ryann Roberts was huge for us off the bench and we are so proud to see her have success. Any game in the MSC is a challenge but considering everything this team has gone through and to get this road win we can't say enough about how proud we are for them."
Bethel returns to action Monday night hosting No. 16 Lindsey Wilson. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. Bethel beat the Blue Raiders 71-70 in overtime in Columbia November 21. The Lady Cats lead the all-time series 6-2.
Live video: https://www.bethelathletics.com/f/WildcatVision.php
Live stats: http://www.dakstats.com/Websync/Pages/Webcasts.aspx?association=10
