Lady Wildcats See Season Come to Close with Loss to Cumberland in Opening Round of MSC
MCKENZIE, Tenn.-The Bethel Lady Wildcats saw their season end Tuesday night falling 55-50 to Cumberland University in the opening round of the MSC Tournament.
The Cats got off to a fast start scoring 10 of the game's first 11 points. The two teams then exchanged points for the rest of the quarter as the Wildcats led 16-9. Trailing 21-11, Cumberland scored the next six points to trim the deficit to 21-17 with 7:17 to play in the half. The Phoenix trailed 26-20 before ending the half on a 6-2 run to end the half to make it 28-26.
Cumberland carried that momentum into the third quarter outscoring the Wildcats 18-5 to take a 44-33 lead. Bethel cut the deficit to three with 29 seconds left before Keara Sexton made a pair of free throws to give the Phoenix the 55-50 victory.
The Phoenix shot 36.4 percent from the field while the Wildcats shot 32.7 percent. Cumberland shot 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the charity stripe. Bethel was 10-of- 21 from the line.
The Phoenix had a 14-5 advantage in points off the bench.
Alyia Lee led Bethel with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
CU's Sexton had a team-high 12 points while Lindsey Freeman added 10.
Bethel ended the year at 13-16. CU moved to 13-15.
Coach Chris Nelson commented, "I am proud of this team and the way they fought and rallied there at the end. We fought more adversity than usual this year but stayed the course for the most part. I regret we cannot spend more time with them now that the season is over. I want to thank our seniors and wish them the best." Nelson added, "The free throws really hurt us but give Jeff (Blum) and his kids a lot of credit. They played hard and deserved the victory."
Cumberland will face top-seeded Campbellsville (Ky.) Thursday at 5 p.m. CT. It marks the first time CU has traveled to Bowling Green during Coach Blum's tenure.