Lady Wildcats Close Out Regular Season with Road Game at UTS
PULASKI, Tenn. – The Bethel Lady Wildcats close out the regular season at UT Southern Saturday. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. It will be Senior Day for UTS.
Live stats:
https://utsfirehawks.com/sports/wbkb/2022-23/boxscores/20230218_6bmr.xml
Video:
https://utsfirehawks.com/watchlive
The Lady Cats are coming off a 66-45 win over Cumberland University on Senior night Thursday in Crisp Arena.
The Lady Wildcats took an early 9-0 lead over Cumberland and kept their lead for the entirety of the game. Keely Morrow led the Cats with six points in the frame, all coming from beyond the arc. Bethel led 17-6 after one.
At the 5:49 mark of the second quarter Bethel's Morrow stole the ball at mid-court and with a breakaway lay-up she went over the 1,000-career point plateau. The Cats led 34-19 at the half.
Bethel held a fairly comfortable lead throughout the second half to win by twenty one points.
Cumberland shot 26 percent overall. Bethel shot 41 percent from the floor. The Lady Cats knocked down nine three -pointers.
Morrow had 21 points while Madison Hart finished with 13 tallies. Kalynn Howard recorded 10 points, a team high eight rebounds, five assists and two steals in the game. Alyia Lee recorded five blocks and ten points as the Cats pushed their record to 12-15 overall and 8-13 in the league. Bethel has won four of their last five games.
The Phoenix were all held in single digits. Lauren King led the Phoenix with nine points. The Phoenix fell to 12-14 and 8-13.
Morrow along with fellow seniors Lauren Carmona and Raegan Blackburn were all honored before the game.
The Firehawks are 6-20 and 3-18. UTS dropped an 87-27 decision to Freed-Hardeman Thursday.
Back in early December, the Lady Cats beat UTS 71-52. 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.
Cat Scratches
Bethel is 155-29 all-time in the ten-year history of Crisp Arena.
With his 362 wins, Coach Chris Nelson is 15th in most wins by an active coach in the NAIA.
The Lady Wildcats have hit at least one three-pointer in 546 straight games.
It will be the 38th meeting between the two programs. Bethel has a 26-11 margin in the series and is 9-6 in Pulaski.
The Mid-South Conference Tournament begins next week. Details including pairings, dates and times will be released over the weekend.