Lady Cats Snap Losing Streak with Home Win over UT Southern
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – For the first time in three weeks, the Bethel Lady Wildcats returned home for a game, playing host to rival Tennessee Southern Thursday night. It proved to be a good remedy for Bethel.
After dropping six straight games, the Cats beat the Lady FireHawks 71-52. It was Bethel's 150th win in the ten-year history of Crisp Arena. Bethel is 150-26 all-time in the building. The Cats took a 26-11 advantage in the series.
The game was somewhat closer than the final score indicated. Bethel trailed 38-35 at the half. The Cats outscored the Hawks 20-12 in the third quarter and led at 55-52 at the end of three. Bethel held UTS to only two points in the final 10 minutes and won by nineteen. The FireHawks were 0-of-12 from the floor in the final quarter.
Bethel shot 37 percent (25-66) from the floor. UTS shot 32 percent (19-60) from the field. Neither team found their stroke from outside. UTS was 2-of-13 from behind the arc. Bethel was 3-of-24 in three-point attempts. The Hawks hit 12-of -19 free throw tries. The Cats hit 18-of -23 from the foul line.
The Lady Cats had a 46-34 advantage in rebounds.
Bethel's Madison Hart led all scorers with 23 points. Hart completed the double-double with 10 rebounds. Kyla Taylor had 15 points and nine boards. Rachel Childress had a huge effort with 10 rebounds, six steals and five rebounds. Haleigh Caviness had five steals. The team had a season high 13 steals in the game. Alyia Lee finished with eight points and eight boards.
Bethel played the game without two starters. Keely Morrow and Alayna Anderson sat out due to illness.
Janiyha Riley led the Hawks with 15 points.
Coach Chris Nelson was pleased with the effort and win. "It was good for our team to get back in the win column tonight but even more important, I am pleased with the way we played. I thought our team played extremely hard in crucial stretches of the game, especially when it was hard. Rachel and Haleigh really sparked our team by doing the little things we needed them to do. Having Anya in the lineup gives our young team the experience we need. Our post production was a group effort and I thought our team defense was the difference for us tonight."
Bethel moved to 6-6 overall and 2-4 in the MSC. UTS fell to 4-5 and 2-4.
The Lady Cats hit the road for another key MSC game Saturday. They travel to Lebanon to battle the Cumberland University Phoenix. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. CST.
Game Coverage:
Live stats:
https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2022-23/boxscores/20221210_v7sz.xml
Watch:
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/cu/
Tickets:
https://www.gocumberlandathletics.com/tickets/