Lady Cats Open Season with Exhibition Loss at Murray State

MURRAY, Ky. -The Bethel Lady Wildcats unofficially opened   their basketball season Tuesday night in Murray, Kentucky in an exhibition game against the Murray State Racers.

The Cats hung tough for the first quarter trailing only 21-15 after the first ten minutes. A scoring drought in the second quarter hampered the cause however as the Lady Wildcats went almost six minutes without scoring. MSU outscored Bethel 19-4 in the quarter and led 40-19 at the break. The Racers went on to gradually pull away for a 71-36 victory.

Bethel shot just 28 percent from the floor. Murray State shot 49 percent. The Racers outrebounded Bethel 45-23. The Cats committed 19 turnovers while MSU turned the ball over 17 times. The Racers had a 40-12 margin in points in the paint.

Former Racer, Raegan Blackburn led Bethel with 15 points. She was the only Cat in double figures. Freshman Madison Hart led Bethel with six rebounds.

Katelyn Young who led the OVC in scoring last year led MSU with a game high 27 points. Macey Turley followed with 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Coach Chris Nelson commented, "We competed well and had a solid first quarter. We couldn't hit a shot in the second and that put us back on our heels. Give Murray State a lot of credit. They are well coached and a solid team. We will learn from this and use it as a teaching tool. I feel when we get all our pieces back in place, we will be fine."

The Lady Wildcats return to action Friday and Saturday in the Annual Carroll County Chamber of Commerce Classic in Crisp Arena.

Bethel meets Brescia Friday at 7 p.m. Campbellsville and UHSP play at 5 p.m.

The Lady Cats play UHSP Saturday at 3 p.m. Campbellsville and Brescia play at 1 p.m.

Visit www.bethelathletics.com for links on how to follow the games.

Tickets can be bought at the door for five dollars each with the Chamber  in charge of ticket sales.