Lady Cats Use Strong Second Half to Beat Freed-Hardeman
MCKENZIE, Tenn. –The Bethel Lady Wildcats outscored Freed-Hardeman 33-17 in the second half Monday night and knocked off the Lady Lions 59-44 in Crisp Arena. Bethel had trailed 27-26 at halftime. It was Bethel's fourth straight win. The Cats have won six of their last seven.
The Lady Cats moved to 15-10 overall and 9-8 in the MSC. FHU fell to 16-9 and 8-9.
Bethel is 12-3 at home on the year and 130 -23 all-time in Crisp Arena. FHU is 4-6 on the road on the season.
Bethel shot 40 percent from the field while FHU shot just 26 percent. Both squads struggled from outside with Freed hitting just 3-of-15 three-point attempts. Bethel hit 4-of-14. Thirty nine fouls were called in the game and both teams had their chances from the charity stripe. Bethel hit 19-of-26 attempts while the visitors from Henderson hit 17-of -22 tries. Bethel won the battle of the boards at 33-28. The Cats are 12-0 when they outrebound their opponents.
Four Lady Wildcats finished in double figures with Jenna Foust leading Bethel with 14 points. Millie Bryant had 11 points and eight rebounds. Ryann Roberts finished with 10 points. Kyla Taylor had her second double-double of the year versus FHU. The sophomore from Lexington had 11 points and a game high 11 rebounds. She had 19 and 10 against Freed in Henderson.
Bryant finished the game with 1,322 career points and 611 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 853 career rebounds and 266 career blocks. She has 1, 236 career points with 753 of those as a Lady Wildcat.
Reagen Floyd led Freed with 10 points.
Trends & Numbers:
Bethel is 14-1 when they outshoot their opponents.
The Cats are 14-3 when they hit more three-pointers.
The Lady Cats are 12-0 when they outrebound their opponents.
Bethel is 11-0 when leading at the half.
The Cats are 10-7 when they have less turnovers.
Bethel is 8-2 when they score 70 or more points in a game.
Coach Chris Nelson was pleased with the effort and victory. "Tonight, was a hard-fought physical basketball game and we are thankful to come out on top. Things got hard on us in the 2nd period, and I thought our team settled in at halftime and stay connected and dedicated themselves to getting big stops in the second half. We feel like we are trending it the right direction, but we have to stay humble and hungry as we come down the stretch."
The Lady Cats hit the road for three straight. They play at Shawnee State Thursday, at Thomas More Saturday and UT Southern on February 14.
Watch for game previews and links to follow the games later at www.bethelathletics.com.
