Lady Cats Swat FireHawks
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Lady Wildcats returned home for the first time in two weeks hosting longtime rival Tennessee Southern Saturday.
Dating back to when UTS was Martin Methodist it marked the 35th meeting between the two programs.
Bethel took a 24-11 lead in the all-time series with a 63-52 victory.
After a season low quarter of just six points in the first stanza which saw Bethel trail 15-6, the Lady Cats hung tough outscoring the visitors from Pulaski 15-11 in the second.
UTS led 26-21 at the break but Bethel went on a run, outscoring the FireHawks 24-10 in the third. Behind the scoring of Jenna Foust and Ryann Roberts, Bethel led 45-36 at the end of three.
The Cats led by as many as 19 in the fourth and moved their record to 14-10 overall and 8-8 in the MSC. UTS dropped to 13-9 and 8-8. The Lady Cats improved their all-time home record in Crisp Arena to 129-23. Bethel has won five of their last six outings.
Bethel shot 36 percent from the field. The Cats shot 50 percent in the second half. UTS shot 30 percent in the game. The Lady Cats had 39-24 rebound advantage and are 11-0 when outrebounding their opponents. The effort on the boards led to a 18-7 margin in second chance points. Bethel knocked down eight three-pointers while the Hawks were 5-of-25 in three-point attempts.
Balance scoring by Bethel was a huge key. Roberts had 16 points. Millie Bryant finished with 14 while Foust had 13 points. Bryant also had eight rebounds. Keely Morrow was a factor with 10 tallies. Mickey Head was a stalwart with eight points and a game high 14 rebounds. She also had three blocks.
Bryant finished the game with 1,311 career points and 603 career rebounds. She is 10th in program history in scoring and 10th in career rebounds. Earlier this season she became just the 10th Lady Cat to score 1,000 points or more and collect 500 rebounds or more
Mickey Head finished the contest with 848 career rebounds and 263 career blocks. She has 1, 231 career points with 748 of those as a Lady Wildcat.
Taylor McNairy had a game high 18 points for UTS.
Trends & Numbers:
Bethel is 13-1 when they outshoot their opponents.
The Cats are 13-3 when they hit more three-pointers.
The Lady Cats are 11-0 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.
Coach Chris Nelson spoke about the big win. "Today was a big game as far as conference play goes but also for our team as we keep our momentum moving forward. These are the dog days of February, but we feel like we are trending in the right direction. Our players are really meshing and gaining valuable
experience as we move forward. For numerous reasons we have had people out first half of the season but thankfully we have our group back in the rotations and catching a rhythm. We have big challenges ahead so we must stay focused."
The teams meet again on February 14 in Pulaski.
The Cats remain at home with a Monday night match-up hosting another longtime rival in Freed-Hardeman. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. FHU beat Bethel 68-51 in Henderson back on January 3rd.
The game will be on WEIO, 100.9 and available at www.thefarmradio.com. The Countdown to tip-off Show begins at 1:30 p.m.
Live video:
https://bethelathletics.com/WildcatStreaming
Live stats:
https://bethelathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2021-22/boxscores/20220207_o6n9.xml
