Lady Wildcats Move to Second Round with Strong Second Half in Win over Sterling
MCKENZIE, Tenn. -The Bethel University Lady Wildcats used a convincing second half to defeat the Sterling Lady Warriors 86-56 in the Women's NAIA 1st Round of the National Tournament Friday night n McKenzie.
The win was the 400th career victory for Coach Chris Nelson.
The Lady Cats led 16-10 after the first quarter and moved to a 37-29 lead at the half.
Bethel outscored Sterling 49-27 in the second half and cruised to their 24th win of the season.
Shooting was a key factor as Bethel shot 46 percent from the floor while Sterling shot just 30 percent from the field. The Cats had a decisive advantage in points in the paint at 44-24. Bethel's bench outscored the Sterling bench 28-12. The Cats hit 10 three pointers.
The MSC Freshman of the Year, Micah Hart stood out, leading the scoring with 20 points, and was a major playmaker with six assists and three steals. Madison Hart also made significant contributions, scoring 18 points. Mikee Buchanan led the team in rebounds with ten and completed her double-double with ten points. Thirteen different players scored for the Wildcats.
Bethel moved to 172-41 all-time in Crisp Arena.
The No. 1 seeded Lady Wildcats move to the second round of the tournament, taking on No eight seed Benedictine Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. Benedictine moved to the second round after an 80-41 win over No. 9 seed LSUA.