Lady Cats visit UPIKE Thursday
PIKEVILLE, Ky. - The Bethel Lady Wildcats jump back into conference play with a visit to Pikeville, Kentucky Thursday. The Cats and the UPIKE Bears tangle at 5 p.m. CST in the Appalachian Wireless Center. The Lady Cats game scheduled at Cumberlands (KY) Saturday afternoon has been moved to January 17th.
Both teams enter the affair at 8-6. Bethel is 2-4 in the MSC while UPIKE is 2-5 in the league. Bethel is 0-2 on the road while the Bears are 4-3 at home on the season.
The Lady Cats lost at FHU Monday while UPIKE beat Cumberlands Monday at home. The Cats have lost two games in a row. The Bears have won four in a row and five of their last six games, including two over top-25 opponents.
It will be the fifth meeting between the two programs with UPIKE owning a 3-1 margin in the series. It will be Bethel's second visit ever to Pikeville where they are 0-1. UPIKE won two earlier games in the series in McKenzie. Bethel's lone win came in the SSAC/MSC Challenge played in 2019 in Pulaski.
The Wildcats are averaging 67.8 points and yielding 59.6 points per outing.
Ryann Roberts, who sat out the game against Freed, leads Bethel in scoring at 14.3 points per game. Millie Bryant follows at 13.9 points per outing. Bryant enters the game with 1,164 career points and 549 career rebounds. She is 12th in both categories in program history. Earlier this season she became just the 10th Lady Cat to score 1,000 points or more and collect 500 rebounds or more. Keely Morrow follows at 12.3 points per contest.
Bethel shoots 40 percent from the field while their opponents are at 37 percent from the floor. Bethel hits 34 percent of their three-point attempts. The opponents are at 31 percent. Bethel shoots 70 percent from the foul line while opponents shoot 66 percent.
Bethel has a 33-30 advantage in out rebounding their opponents per outing. Bethel is 7-0 when leading at the half.
Coach Chris Nelson is in his 16th season as head coach of the Lady Cats. He is 337-161 and 15th in wins among active coaches in the NAIA.
UPIKE is led in scoring by Morgan Stamper who averages 16.3 points per outing. She is one of four UPIKE players who average in double figures. Stamper is the reigning MSC Player of the Week. She has captured the award two straight weeks.
The Bears average 77.6 and yield 70.0 points per game.
Clifton Williams is in his sixth season as head coach of the Bears. He is 93-70 at UPIKE.
Live stats:
https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2021-22/boxscores/20220106_vkl4.xml
Live video:
https://upikebears.com/sports/2020/10/14/upike-sports-network.aspx
After Thursday's game, 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.