Mickey Head & Lady Cats Host UTS Saturday

Posted: Feb 04, 2022

Lady Cats Host Rival UTS Saturday in Crisp

MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Lady Wildcats return home for the first time in two weeks hosting longtime rival Tennessee Southern Saturday at 2 p.m. Dating back to when UTS was Martin Methodist it will be the 35^th meeting between the two programs.

Bethel leads the series 23-11. The Cats are 13-4 in McKenzie. The Cats are 8-6 in Pulaski and 2-1 in neutral site games. The last time they met was in February (2021) in McKenzie with the Hawks winning 72-61. That snapped a four-game winning streak by the Wildcats. One of the more memorable games was the SSAC title game in 2020 with Bethel winning 65-59 in Montgomery to capture the SSAC Championship. The teams were scheduled to play back in December, but the game was postponed.

The Cats are 13-10 overall and 7-8 in the MSC. After losing their first six road games of the season, the Bethel Lady Wildcats made it two road wins in a row with a 67-47 win at Life University Thursday. It marked the second victory of the season over the Eagles. Bethel beat LU 62-36 earlier in the year in Crisp Arena. It was Bethel's fourth win in their last five games.

After leading late in their game at Freed-Hardeman Thursday night, the FireHawks lost 69-66 in overtime to the Lions. UTS enters the game in Crisp at 13-8 and 8-7. Bethel is now 138-23 all-time in Crisp Arena. The Hawks are 5-5 on the road this season.

The Wildcats are averaging 67.0 points and yielding 59.6 points per outing.

Ryann Roberts leads Bethel in scoring averaging 13.9 points per game. Millie Bryant follows at 13.8 points per outing. Keely Morrow is in double figures at 12.1.

Bryant enters the game with 1,297 career points and 595 career rebounds. She is 10^th in program history in scoring and 10^th in career rebounds. Her 11 boards at Life moved her into the top ten. Earlier this season she became just the 10^th Lady Cat to score 1,000 points or more and collect 500 rebounds or more

Mickey Head enters the game with 834 career rebounds and 260 career blocks. She has 1, 223 career points with 740 of those as a Lady Wildcat.

Bethel shoots 40 percent from the field while their opponents are at 38 percent from the floor. Bethel hits 32 percent of their three-point attempts. The opponents are at 31 percent. Bethel shoots 71 percent from the foul line while opponents shoot 67 percent.

Bethel has a 32-31 advantage in outrebounding their opponents per outing.

Trends & Numbers:

Bethel is 12-1 when they outshoot their opponents.

The Cats are 12-3 when they hit more three-pointers.

The Lady Cats are 10-0 when they outrebound their opponents.

Bethel is 11-0 when leading at the half.

The Cats are 9-7 when they have less turnovers.

Bethel is 8-2 when they score 70 or more points in a game.

Faith Sherrow leads UTS averaging 19.7 points per game. The Hawks average 72.0 and yield 67.3 points per outing.

Coach Chris Nelson is in his 16^th season as head coach of the Lady Cats. He is 342-164 and 15^th in wins among active coaches in the NAIA.

Billy Evans is in his 4^th season in Pulaski. Prior to that he had successful stints at Belhaven and Mobile.

Official Game Day Notes: