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Lady Cats Win 100th in Crisp Arena

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McKENZIE — The No. 17 Bethel Lady Wildcats played host to the Lady Crusaders of William Carey Saturday in Crisp Arena and beat the visitors from Hattiesburg 93-71. The victory ran Bethel’s record to 14-3 overall and 6-1 in the SSAC. WCU dropped to 5-7 and 4-4. The win was the 100th victory for the Lady Wildcats in Crisp Arena.
It was the 11th meeting between the two programs with Bethel now holding an 11-0 advantage in the series.
The Lady Wildcats led 46-25 at the half. WCU outscored Bethel 27-17 in the third quarter to get within 11 but the Lady Cats answered with a 30-19 advantage in the fourth to put the game away.
The Lady Cats shot 46 percent from the field connecting on 28 of 60 shots. The Cats hit 10 three’s and were 27 of 34 from the foul line. The Crusaders were 17 of 30 from the line and hit six three-pointers. They shot 44 percent at 24 of 54 from the floor. Bethel had a 38-23 advantage on the boards. The Lady Wildcats forced WCU into 15 turnovers and had a season low eight in the contest. Bethel had a 24-12 margin in points off turnovers.

Myah Taylor led all scorers with 28 points. She also collected nine rebounds in the game. Jani Crawford who made her first start of the season finished with a career high 19 points. She replaced Morgan Martin who sat out the game due to an injury. Tasia Jones matched her career high with 12 points. Brandi Goodman had a game high 10 rebounds and tossed in eight points. Madison Steppee scored nine points while Tyasia Willis had eight points and five rebounds.
Rachel Thompson led WCU with 14 points. Destiny Williams had 12 for the Crusaders.
Coach Chris Nelson said, “This was a big week for us and we were fortunate to finish it on a good note. We had a nice lead at half time but had our work cut out for us to finish off a much improved William Carey team. It was a challenge playing without Morgan but I thought Jani and Tasia stepped up in big fashion.” He added, “Our post did it by committee. Steppee played well early and it trickled down to Ty and Brandi. Myah had to work for her 28 points but she continues to find a way to produce and is fun to coach. As a team we need to get more motivated to defend when we have a lead and hopefully we can figure that out sooner than later.”
Bethel hits the road for three straight games beginning with a visit to Stillman College on January 17. They visit Mobile on January 19 and Blue Mountain January 21. The Lady Cats return to Crisp Arena the 24th to host Faulkner.

Crisp Arena, Lady Cats, Bethel, Crusaders