LAKELAND, Fla. –The (RV) Bethel Lady Wildcats dropped to 11-3 with a 73-53 loss to Southeastern University in the SEC Classic Monday in Lakeland, Florida. The loss snapped Bethel's 11 game winning streak.
Southeastern improved to 8-4 on the season. The Fire have won five of their last six outings.
Bethel took an early lead on a three-pointer by Madison Hart but Southeastern outscored the Cats 17-6 the remainder of the first quarter and led 17-9 after one.
The Cats went over five minutes in the second quarter without scoring and trailed at 35-18 at the half. Bethel shot just 23 percent from the floor in the first twenty minutes.
The Fire scored the first eight points of the third quarter and led 43-18. Bethel trimmed the deficit to 47-30 at one point but Southeastern had an answer each time the Cats made a run. The Fire led 52-33 at the end of the third quarter.
The Cats finished at 32 percent from the floor in the game. Bethel was 8-of-27 in attempted three-pointers. The Fire shot 52 percent and hit eight three-pointers on 25 attempts.
Bethel had 19 turnovers and Southeastern took advantage with a 25-14 margin in points off turnovers. The Fire had a 37-19 advantage in bench points. The Cats had a 36-35 margin in rebounds.
Kalynn Howard was the only Wildcat in double figures with 13 points. Anya Patterson had eight points and six rebounds. Alyia Lee finished with eight points and a team-high seven rebounds. Meredith Simmons had eight points. Haleigh Caviness had seven points while Hart finished with six points. Lauren Bryant rounded out the scoring with two points.
Anya Coleman had a game high 14 points for the Fire.
The Lady Wildcats meet Ave Maria Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the classic. The Gyrenes are 6-4 on the year.
Live Stats:
https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20231218_at4h.xml
Live Video:
https://team1sports.com/southeasternfire/
