Lady Cats Fight to the Wire but Fall in Pikeville

PIKEVILLE, Ky. –For the second time on the season the Bethel Lady Wildcats lost to UPIKE, dropping a 74-68 decision Thursday to the Bears in Pikeville. UPIKE beat Bethel 63-55 back in mid-November in McKenzie.

Bethel dropped to 8-12 overall and 4-10 in the Mid-South Conference.

The Bears won their ninth straight and moved to 15-4 and 10-3. UPIKE has a 6-2 advantage in the series.

The Lady Cats fought hard until the final horn but ran out of time falling to 1-8 on the road on the season.

Bethel led 17-15 at the end of the first quarter but trailed 38-32 at the half. A tight second half saw UPIKE lead 55-51 at the end of the third stanza. The Bears outscored Bethel 19-17 in the fourth to capture the six point victory.

The Cats shot 40 percent from the floor and hit six three-pointers. Bethel hit 16-of -19 free throw attempts.

Pikeville shot 42 percent and hit four three-pointers. The Bears knocked down 16-of- 18 free throws.

Pikeville had a 39-26 rebound advantage.

Bethel's Keely Morrow had a great game finishing with a game high 28 points. Madison Hart had 14 points and grabbed five rebounds. Alyia Lee scored 11 points and collected six boards. Kalynn Howard had nine points, six rebounds and three assists.

UPIKE had three players finish in double figures with Morgan Stamper leading the attack with 21 points. Stamper had a game high 17 rebounds.

The Wildcats travel to Portsmouth, Ohio to battle Shawnee State at noon CST Saturday. It will be the seventh meeting between the two programs with Bethel holding a 6-0 margin in the series.  The Cats beat SSU 82-58 earlier this year in McKenzie.

Game Coverage:

Watch:

https://portal.stretchinternet.com/shawneest/

Stats:

https://naiastats.prestosports.com/sports/wbkb/2022-23/boxscores/20230121_pxe4.xml