Lady Wildcats Beat Bears

MCKENZIE, Tenn. –The Bethel Lady Wildcats snapped a four-game losing streak with authority Saturday afternoon with an 80-52 thrashing of the visiting Shawnee State Bears.

The Cats did not get off to a pretty start trailing 21-14 after one.  That did not matter however as the Lady Cats outscored the Bears 18-7 in the second to grab a 32-28 halftime margin. Bethel remained unbeaten on the season (9-0) when leading at the break. Bethel went on to outscore SSU 48-24 in the second half and won easily.

Bethel moved to 9-8 overall and 3-6 in the MSC. The Bears fell to 3-9 and 2-6. 

Bethel is 8-3 at home on the year. The Lady Cats are 136-23 all-time in Crisp Arena.

Bethel's defense held SSU to just 31 percent from the floor. The Lady Cats hit 13 three-pointers. Bethel had a 37-32 advantage in rebounding. The Wildcats remained unbeaten when winning the battle of the boards. They are 8-0 when that occurs. Bethel's Kyla Taylor pulled down a career high 16 rebounds. Taylor started the game in place of senior Mickey Head who sat out the game. Bethel also played without Keely Morrow who is expected to return to the starting line-up next week.

Ryann Roberts knocked down five three pointers and finished with a team high 22 points. Jenna Foust had 11 points while freshman Kalynn Howard was in double digits with 10 tallies.

Marnae Holland had a game high 23 points for Shawnee State.

Coach Chris Nelson was proud of the effort and pleased with the result. "It was nice to get a win especially playing without two our key players today. Hopefully we will get healthy on the second swing of conference play. I'm proud of our effort and staying the course after a slow start. Our chemistry is slowing molding together and we believe that will pay dividends down the stretch."   

 Bethel is scheduled to play at the University of the Cumberlands Monday night, but weather concerns could affect when that game will be played. That information will be released when made available.

The Lady Wildcats return home Thursday to host MSC rival and number three ranked Campbellsville.