Lady Cats are your Mid-South Conference Champions
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- No. 5 seed Bethel (Tenn.) captured the program's first Mid-South Conference Women's Basketball Tournament title tonight with a 54-47 win over second-seeded Campbellsville (Ky.) at Studle Financial Arena.
The Wildcats (23-7) earn the Mid-South Conference's automatic bid into the NAIA National Tournament which begins on Friday, March 14, at various sites across the NAIA.
Bethel wins the title in its first-ever championship appearance and does so by beating three nationally ranked teams. The Wildcats beat No. 3 Campbellsville, No. 5 Cumberlands (Ky.), and No. 11 Georgetown (Ky.) by an average of 14.3 points per game during the three-day tournament.
The Wildcats held the Lady Tigers (26-3) to nearly 30 points below their season average with a season-low 47 points. Campbellsville ended the game shooting 29.2 percent (19-of-65) from the field.
Madison Hart -- the H&W-Dukes Player of the Game -- led a Bethel offense that shot nearly 45 percent from the field. Hart recorded her second double-double of the tournament with 18 points and 11 rebounds. She averaged 22.7 points and 10.7 rebounds per game during the tournament.
Neither team could separate from the other in the opening 10 minutes. Bethel and Campbellsville produced eight ties in the first quarter as the two teams exchanged offensive haymakers. Bethel shot over 63 percent in the quarter while Whitney Hay carried the Lady Tigers, making all five of her shots for 11 points. Campbellsville and Bethel were deadlocked at 17-all at the end of the first.
The two teams ratcheted up the defense in the early stages of the second quarter.
Bethel and Campbellsville combined for just nine points in the first six and a half minutes, including a scoreless stretch of nearly four minutes. The Lady Tigers led 24-19 with 3:40 left in the half.
That's when the offense showed up.
Bethel scored five straight points to tie the game at 24-24, sparking a back-and-forth that ended with Campbellsville leading 29-26 with 2:13 left. The Wildcats dominated the final two minutes, outscoring the Lady Tigers 7-0 to take a 33-29 halftime lead.
Bethel extended its lead to 10 at the end of the third, thanks to limiting the Lady Tigers to just eight points and 25 percent (4-of-16) shooting. Offensively, Madison Hart scored eight of the Wildcats' 14 points to help Bethel take a 47-37 lead entering the fourth quarter.
The Lady Tigers' offensive struggles continued in the fourth. Campbellsville missed its first 16 shots and connected on just 2-of-18 in the quarter.
While Campbellsville struggled, Bethel methodically shortened the game in the final period en route to the championship.
Micah Hart scored 11 points in the win while Lauren Lee led the Lady Tigers with 13 points.
Article courtesy Mid-South Conference