Lady Wildcats Fall to FHU
HENDERSON, Tenn. – The Bethel Lady Wildcats opened the second portion of their season in the Brewer Sports Center Monday night visiting Freed-Hardeman in Henderson. Both teams entered the match-up playing well. Bethel had won four of their last five while Freed was riding a four-game winning streak.
The Lady Lions made it five wins in a row with a 68-51 win over the Cats. It was the 33rd meeting between the two with FHU now holding a 25-8 margin in the series. Bethel had won three of the last four meetings prior to Monday's contest.
A slow start proved to be the undoing of the Lady Wildcats. FHU took a 14-0 lead to open the game and led 18-4 after one. After Freed moved to a 24-4 lead early in the second, the Cats mounted a fierce comeback and cut the deficit to 32-26 with one minute left until halftime. The Lions would lead at the half 35-26.
Both teams struggled early in the third. Bethel trailed 44-28 but rallied again and cut the FHU lead to eight late in the third. Freed led 48-38 after three. The Cats came back and cut the Lion lead to 48-42 with nine minutes left. Freed withstood the Bethel charge and pulled away to win.
Bethel shot 33 percent (19-57) from the field while FHU shot 48 percent hitting 25-of-52 shots from the floor. The Lions had a 32-28 rebound advantage. Both teams struggled from outside combining to hit just six of 29 three-point attempts.
Kyla Taylor led Bethel with a double-double scoring a career high 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.
Alyssa LeMay and Chynia Brooks led FHU with 18 points each.
The Wildcats played without two key players in Ryann Roberts and Ashton Hulme.
Bethel dropped to 8-6 overall and 2-4 in the MSC. Freed moved to 11-3 and 4-3. The game was the first of three straight road games for the Lady Wildcats.
Coach Chris Nelson was disappointed in the loss. "Credit Freed in doing a good job in taking away what we like to do. We missed assignments at critical times and those really hurt us. I thought Kyla Taylor was great for us. She came to play and will see more minutes. We had silly fouls that put them to the line too much. We simply have to have more consistent play from several players to be successful."
Bethel travels to UPIKE Thursday and then to Cumberlands (KY) Saturday.
After the road games, Bethel returns home for four straight home games. Two of those outings will be against teams ranked in the top five in Campbellsville (1) and Thomas More (3). The Cats play eight home games the remainder of the season. The Lady Cats are 135-22 all-time in Crisp Arena.
Watch for previews to the UPIKE and UC games later this week at www.bethelathletics.com.