Lady Cats & Tigers Clash Thursday in Georgetown
GEORGETOWN, Ky. –The Bethel Lady Wildcats return to action Thursday night traveling to Georgetown, Kentucky to face the Tigers of Georgetown. It will be the first of two straight MSC road games facing the Lady Cats. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. CST.
Both squads received votes in the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches' Top 25 Poll released this week.
Bethel is 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the league. The Tigers are 7-1 and 2-1. GC is 5-0 at home while Bethel is playing their first road game of the season. It will be Bethel's first game since November 20th.
Series:
It will be just the third time the two programs have met with the series tied at 1-1.
Last Game:
Bethel
Scoring binges were the story lines throughout the afternoon in the game between the Lady Wildcats and the visiting Phoenix of Cumberland University on November 20. In the end, it was Cumberland outscoring Bethel 26-15 in the fourth quarter enroute to an 82-79 victory over the Wildcats. There were twelve lead changes in the game.
After the Phoenix outscored Bethel 20-13 in the second stanza, Bethel trailed 40-34 at the half. Bethel used a 21-3 run in the third to take a 64-56 margin at the end of three. The Lady Wildcats led much of the quarter and had a 77-72 lead late in the game. The Phoenix outscored Bethel 8-2 in the last few minutes to win.
Keely Morrow came off the bench to lead Bethel in scoring with a season high 23 points. She also had a team high 10 rebounds. Ryann Roberts followed with 17 points while Millie Bryant had 14 tallies. Mickey Head finished in double figures with 12 points.
Lindsey Freeman led CU with 17 points. Tierra David had 12 points and 10 boards. Tyra Johnson finished with 15 points. Jana Claire Swafford (14) and Devon Burns (11) combined for 25 bench points for CU. The Phoenix bench outscored the Bethel reserves 36-25. Cumberland had a 37 -29 advantage in rebounds.
Bethel dropped to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the MSC. Cumberland moved to 4-3 and 1-1.
Coach Chris Nelson commented on the postgame radio interview. "Give Cumberland a lot of credit. They are a good team, and we just couldn't close the game out. Turnovers hurt us at the end and we have to get more production from our four spot. We had some foul trouble which played a part in the loss as well. This one will sting as we have some time off until we play again but we feel we still have a good squad, and we will work hard to get ready for Georgetown in early December."
GC
Georgetown College women's basketball continues to find way to pour in points. The Tigers (7-1) are averaging more than 95 points a game. They almost had their third 100-point game with a 99-56-win Saturday against Wilberforce University.
Grace White led the charge with 19 points and 14 rebounds, while four other Georgetown players had double figures – Izzy Lamparty (16), Jazzmyn Elston (14), Shelia McNealy (12) and AJ Stevenson (10). Sophie Smith and Madison Darnell were each a bucket from double-digits, nine and eight respectively.
GC started strong with a 15-point edge after the first quarter, 28-13. It eventually grew to a 46-point lead with 2:11 left.
As a team they shot 47.9 from the field and 40 from three-point range. They finished with 19 assists on 34 field goals and dominated the glass, 54-29.
Cat Scratches:
Roberts leads Bethel in scoring at 15.0 points per game. Morrow follows at 13.8 per outing. Bryant averages 12.2 points per game and leads the team in rebounding at seven boards per game. Head pops in 10.7 points per contest.
The Cats average 71.5 points while yielding 59.3 points per game.
Tiger Tails:
The Tigers average 95.6 points per game and yield 63.6 points per outing. The Tigers have scored 90 or more points in a game six times this season. A.J. Stevenson leads the squad averaging 15.3 points per game. Cassie Colon follows at 14.0 tallies per contest. Grace White averages 12.5 per game while Madison Darnell is good for 10.6 per outing.
The M & M Watch:
Two Bethel seniors, Mickey Head and Millie Bryant continue to stamp their names in the record book in their respective careers.
After the CU game, Head has 1,119 career points. After transferring from Martin Methodist, she has 546 of those in a Wildcat uniform. She has 752 career rebounds and 237 assists. Mickey has 126 blocks at Bethel giving her 219 in her career.
Bryant has 943 career points. Only 18 players have scored 1, 000 points or more in program history. Millie has 496 career rebounds. Only nine players have scored 1,000 points or more and grabbed 500 rebounds or more as a Lady Wildcat. Bryant has 231 assists which is tied for 15th in program history. She has 149 career three- three pointers which is 12th in program history.
Coaches:
Coach Chris Nelson is in his 16th season as the head coach of the Lady Wildcats. Nelson is 333-157 and ranks 15th in wins among active coaches in the NAIA.
Coach Jeff Nickel is in his first season with the Tigers. Prior to GC he had great success at Shawnee State.
Media coverage & Links:
Video stream:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/georgetown/
Stat link:
https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2021-22/boxscores/20211202_xqlw.xml