LEBANON, Tenn. – The Bethel Lady Wildcats had a five -point halftime lead Thursday night at Cumberland University but couldn't hold on in the second half, falling 65-63 to the Phoenix.
Bethel dropped to 13-9 overall and 0-6 in the Mid-South Conference.
Cumberland moved to 8-11 and 1-5. The win snapped a six -game losing streak by the Phoenix.
Balanced scoring and a strong defense which forced Cumberland into 11 first half turnovers allowed the Lady Cats to lead 33-28 at halftime.
The Phoenix fought back and led 46-40 late in the third quarter before Bethel scored the last four points of the quarter to trail 46-44 at the end of three.
Behind six early fourth quarter points by Madison Hart, Bethel rallied to take a 51-48 margin. CU went ahead 53-51 but a three-pointer by Kalya Gilmore gave the Cats a 54-53 lead. After several lead changes, Gilmore's free throw with 1:10 left knotted the game at 63 all. Faith Golston 's layup with 49 seconds left proved to be the game winner for the Phoenix.
Bethel shot 43 percent from the floor and hit seven three-pointers. The Lady Cats were 12-of-19 from the free throw line.
The Phoenix shot 45 percent from the field and hit five treys. CU was 10-of-14 from the line.
Both teams committed 18 turnovers each, but Cumberland had a 20-9 margin in points off turnovers.
The Phoenix had a 36 -28 rebound advantage.
Madison Hart led Bethel with 18 points. Gilmore followed with 10 points.
CU's Kayla Gordon had a game high 26 points.
The Lady Wildcats return home Saturday to host rival No. 20 Freed-Hardeman. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. It will be the 39th meeting between the programs.
The teams met earlier this season with FHU winning 65-50 in Henderson. The Lions pulled away in the first half and went on to win 65-50. Freed holds a 28-10 advantage in the series.
The Lady Cats jumped out to a 6-2 lead but FHU outscored Bethel 16-6 to lead at the end of the first quarter, 18-12.
The Lions scored seven unanswered points to begin the second quarter and stretched their lead to 25-12. FHU would go on to outscore Bethel 20-7 in the quarter and would lead 38-19 at the half. The Cats hit all eight of their free throw attempts but shot just 21 percent from the field in the half.
The Lions moved out to a 59-37 lead after three quarters.
Freed-Hardeman stretched their lead to 24 at one point (64-40) in the fourth quarter. A late surge by Bethel came up short as FHU won by fifteen.
Radio:
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Video:
https://www.bethelathletics.com/watch
Stats:
https://bethel.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2023-24/boxscores/20240203_2pli.xml
Tickets:
https://bethel.prestosports.com/tickets
