UPIKE Uses Strong Fourth Quarter to Beat Lady Cats
PIKEVILLE, Ky. - The Bethel Lady Wildcats jumped back into conference play with a visit to Pikeville, Kentucky Thursday. A fourth quarter surge by UPIKE saw the Bears win 75-61.
UPIKE led 15-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Bears led 24-19 in the second, but the Lady Cats scored 10 unanswered to grab a 29-24 margin. UPIKE answered with eight straight and would go on to lead 34-32 at the half. The first half featured six ties. Mille Bryant was hot from the outside connecting on four three-pointers. She finished with 14 points in the half. Keely Morrow had six at the break. Mickey Head had two points and three blocks while Kyla Taylor came off the bench with several key rebounds and four tallies. Kalynn Howard knocked down a three-pointer while Ryann Roberts had two points and Ashton Hulme finished with one point.
Keely Morrow knocked down an early three in the third stanza to give Bethel a 35-34 lead. It would be the last time the Lady Cats would have an advantage in the contest. After several ties, the Bears pulled away to lead 48-45 after three quarters. The game remained close until Pikeville pulled away using a 27-16 advantage in the final stanza to secure their fifth straight victory. Bethel suffered their third straight loss.
Bethel fell to 8-7 overall and 2-5 in the MSC. The Lady Cats remained winless on the road at 0-3. The Bears moved to 9- 6- and 3-5. It was the fifth meeting between the two programs with UPIKE owning a 4-1 margin in the series. It was Bethel's second visit ever to Pikeville where they are 0-2. UPIKE won two earlier games in the series in McKenzie. Bethel's lone win came in the SSAC/MSC Challenge played in 2019 in Pulaski.
UPIKE shot 45 percent from the field and 65 percent from behind the three-point line (11-17). Bethel shot 35 percent from the floor and hit seven three-pointers. The Bears had a 35-27 advantage in rebounds.
Bryant led Bethel with a game high 20 points. Morrow finished with 11 points while Head had 10 points. Jenna Foust had eight points, all in the second half.
Sierra Feltner led the Bears with 18 points. A.J. Reed hit several huge three-pointers in the second half and finished with 16 tallies for the Bears.
Coach Chris Nelson said his squad must improve on their toughness. "Tonight, was another tough loss. We battled a little harder in spots tonight during the game, but we are not tough for an entire 40 minutes. We are typically a tough-minded defensive team but right now we can't finish out possessions and that carries over to finishing out quarters and games".
Nelson added, "We are not going to outscore a lot of teams, so we are going to have to grind it out on the defensive side and on the boards. We are an inexperienced team but showed some growth tonight and had some positive things happen. This league is very unforgiving and going to be a challenge every night. Credit UPIKE, they had a tough run for it early in the season and they have really got things going in the right direction. I feel like we can do the same if we stay the course."
The Lady Cats game scheduled at Cumberlands (KY) Saturday afternoon has been moved to January 17th.
Bethel returns home for four straight home games. The Lady Cats begin the home stand Thursday playing host No. 3 Thomas More at 6 p.m.
The Lady Cats are 135-22 all-time in Crisp Arena.
The Countdown to Tip-off Show begins at 5:30 p.m.
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