CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Bethel Lady Wildcats returned to action Saturday in an exhibition game at Lee University. The Cats fell short as they lost to the Flames 62-46.
It was the first meeting between the two programs since 2013. They first met in 1990. The series is now tied at 5-5.
The Flames led 16-8 after one quarter. The Lady Cats did not have a field goal in the last 7:48 of the quarter.
Lee moved out to a 22-11 lead but a layup by Merdith Simmons and a three-pointer by Lauren Bryant cut the Bethel deficit to 22-16. Lee would go on to lead 28-20 at the half. Both squads struggled from the floor in the half. Bethel shot just 22 percent while Lee was at 30 percent from the field. Bryant led Bethel with six points at the break. Addison Smith led Lee with 11 points in the half. Each team made three treys in the half.
Bethel scored the first five points of the third quarter and pulled to within 28-25. Madison Hart's layup pulled the Cats to within one at 33-32 with 5:46 left in the quarter. A late surge by the Flames gave them a 47-34 margin after three quarters.
That surge continued as Lee at one point scored 16 unanswered points to lead 53-34 early in the fourth quarter. The Flames would go on to a 16-point victory.
Bethel had a 38-25 rebound margin but shot just 27 percent from the field. The Cats were 17-of-30 from the free throw line. Bethel had 24 turnovers which led to a Lee 21-8 advantage in points off turnovers. The Cats had a 25-12 margin in bench points. Both squads finished with five made three-pointers.
Madison Hart led Bethel with 11 points. Lee's Haylee Johnson led all scorers with 21 points.
Coach Chris Nelson commented on the game. "Today was tough! We came out and really played hard and competed against a great team in Lee. We came out of half and were able to make a run and cut it to 37-34. Our floor general (Kal Howard) went down with an injury and after that it was hard for our team to recover from an emotional standpoint. We are making no excuses as Lee's going to do what they do and do it exceptionally well. We scheduled this game for a reason to hopefully get us ready for league play coming up."
It was Lee's ninth straight victory. The Flames moved to 9-2 on the year. Lee leads the GSC with a perfect 7-0 mark. Bethel is 12-3 on the season.
The Lady Cats jump back into regular season play hosting Campbellsville- Harrodsburg January 6 at 1 p.m.
Live Stats:
https://bethel.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20240106_1jby.xml
Live Video:
https://www.bethelathletics.com/watch
