Lady Wildcats Host Life Saturday in Crisp
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Lady Wildcats play host to Life University Saturday afternoon in Crisp Arena. The Wildcats return to MSC play after two non-conference victories. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.
The Cats are 6-4 overall and 1-3 in the league. Life is 4-8 and 1-4. The Running Eagles have dropped three straight games. Bethel is 6-2 at home while Life is 1-5 on the road.
A Day to Help:
The Bethel University Sports Information Office announced earlier this week the entire athletic department is seeking your help. Assistant Sports Information Director Austin Childress is from Kentucky and is looking to take various items to those in need in Mayfield and others in his home state. The athletic department staff also has friends and relatives in Dresden, Tennessee, Kenton, Tennessee and other surrounding towns and cities in West Tennessee and Western Kentucky. The items will be taken to organizations for distribution in those area.
Items can also be dropped off at the gate before the doubleheader against Life.
IN LIEU OF THE EFFORTS TO ASSIST, THERE WILL BE NO ADMISSION CHARGE FOR THE GAMES. DONATIONS OF ANY TYPE WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THE GATE.
Series:
The teams first met in 2017. Bethel has a 3-0 advantage in the series and is 2-0 versus the Eagles in McKenzie. Bethel won 69-59 over Life back in February in Marietta.
Last Time Out:
Bethel
Bethel's scheduled game Thursday at UTS was postponed.
After their 90-50 victory over Arkansas Baptist last week, the Lady Wildcats had a quick turnaround hosting the Tougaloo Bulldogs Saturday.
The Cats showed no ill effects with a convincing 87-47 victory over the Bulldogs. Bethel moved to 6-4 while the Bulldogs dropped to 7-9. Bethel is 6-2 at home on the season while Tougaloo fell to 1-7 in road action.
The Bulldogs scored the first two points of the game, but Bethel responded with 20 unanswered points and went on to lead 22-7 after one. The Cats led 50-14 at the half and cruised to their 134th victory in Crisp Arena. Bethel is 134-22 all-time in the building.
Celebrating her birthday for the first time as a collegian, Kalynn Howard had a career high 17 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Keely Morrow and Millie Bryant scored 13 each. Mickey Head had a game high 10 rebounds and blocked six Bulldog shots. Head has 231 career blocks and 781 career rebounds.
Bethel had a 50-35 rebound advantage and held Tougaloo to just 26 percent from the floor.
Berniya Hardin led the Dogs with 17 points.
Coach Chris Nelson was happy with the win. "I thought we had a couple of stretches in the first half where we played really well. It was good again to get a nice lead affording us to play a lot of people for the second straight game. Kyla Taylor was good again off the bench and if she keeps improving will deserve more minutes. Kalynn is getting better every game and we look forward to her being a big contributor."
Last Time Out:
Life
Life was outscored 43-18 in the second half Thursday night, as the Running Eagles fell to Freed-Hardeman University in Mid-South Conference action 74-47.
Morgan Collins led the way with 17 points and three assists and was 7-18 from the floor. Olivia Delk added the double-double on 10 points and 10 rebounds with a steal.
Last Meeting:
With two starters out the 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.
Cat Scratches:
The Lady Cats average 72.2 points per game. Bethel gives up 59.3 per outing. Millie Bryant leads Bethel in scoring at 14.6 points per game. Ryann Roberts follows at 14.4. Keely Morrow pops in 13.1 points per contest.
In the Tougaloo game, Mickey Head had a game high 10 rebounds and blocked six Bulldog shots. Head has 231 career blocks and 781 career rebounds.
Millie Bryant will be recognized and honored before the game.
Millie Bryant recently became just the 19th player in program history to score 1,000 points or more in a career. She is the 16th Lady Cat to have 500 or more career rebounds. Bryant became just the 10th player is program history to score over 1,000 points and grab 500 or more rebounds. She enters the game with 1, 016 career points and 521 career rebounds.
Coaches:
Coach Chris Nelson is in his 16th season as the head coach of the Lady Wildcats. Nelson is 335-159 and ranks 15th in wins among active coaches in the NAIA.
Anna Kowalska is in her first year as head coach of the Eagles.
Media coverage & Links
The Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 1:30 p.m.
Official Game Day Notes:
https://bethelathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2021-22/2021-22_Women-s_Basketball_Game_Notes_-_Dec._18.pdf
Video stream:
https://bethelathletics.com/WildcatStreaming
Stat link:
https://bethelathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2021-22/boxscores/20211209_aisj.xml
Radio Link: WEIO, 100.9
https://streamdb6web.securenetsystems.net/v5/WEIO