OMAHA, Neb. – The Bethel Lady Wildcats knew they would be taking a bus trip again Sunday after their Saturday game against Dakota Wesleyan in the 41st Annual Women’s Basketball National Championship Opening Round in Omaha.
It would be back home to McKenzie which would be a 10-hour, 849-mile trip or a one hour plus, 96-mile trek on to Sioux City, Iowa for a Sweet 16 berth at the NAIA National Championship final site presented by Bomgaars. The championship takes place at the Tyson Events Center from March 17-22.
The Cats chose the latter and the shorter ride with a heart stopping 54-53 win over the DWU Tigers. The win propelled the Wildcats to the fourth Sweet 16 appearance in program history. It was 12th seeded Bethel’s second straight upset win over an opponent in Omaha. The big win was set up with Bethel’s 79-69 win over 16th ranked and 4th seeded St. Xavier on Friday.
DWU stormed out of the gate and led 17-4 with two minutes left in the first quarter. The Tigers led 21-9 after one. Bethel gained some confidence scoring the first six points of the second quarter. That run jump started the Wildcat offense. Bethel took their first lead on a Keely Morrow lay-up with 3:15 left in the half. After a bucket by Dakota Wesleyan, Millie Bryant’s lay-up on an assist from Mickey Head gave Bethel a 32-31 margin. That was the score at halftime. Kyla Taylor led Bethel with seven points at the break. Morrow had six points. Ryann Roberts hit Bethel’s only two three-pointers and had six points at the break.
Bethel opened up a 41-33 lead in the third quarter, but DWU battled back to tie the game at 41-41. Freshman Kalynn Howard nailed a three to give the Cats a 44-41margin. The Tigers scored to make it 44-43 at the end of three.
The Tigers pulled out to a 51-46 advantage in the first four minutes of the final quarter. Bethel’s Jenna Foust hit two free throws to pull the Cats to within three at 51-48. Roberts proved to be the key at that point. She followed a lay-up with a clutch three-pointer to give Bethel a 53-51 margin. Roberts hit one of two free throw attempts and Bethel led 54-51 with 3:08 left. Both teams went scoreless until DWU scored to cut Bethel’s lead to 54-53 with 48 seconds left. The Tigers would have the ball but a miss in the final seconds and a Roberts rebound sealed the win for the Cats.
The Cats shot 39 percent from the field and hit five three-pointers. DWU shot 34 percent and hit just two treys. The Tigers outrebounded Bethel 38-32.
Roberts had a team high 14 points. Morrow finished with 10 points. Foust had eight tallies. Bryant had six points and a team high nine rebounds. Head had four points and four rebounds. The all-time program shot blocker had five rejections with two of those in the fateful last few minutes. Howard had five points while Taylor finished with seven. Jada Campbell finished with a game high 20 points for DWU.
Bethel moved to 21-13 on the year while Dakota Wesleyan finished their season at 27-8.
Bryant now has 1,446 career points and 653 career rebounds. She is 8th in program history in scoring and 9th in career rebounds. Earlier this season she became just the 10th Lady Cat to score 1,000 points or more and collect 500 rebounds or more.
Head finished the game with 913 career rebounds and 296 career blocks. She has 1, 315 career points with 832 of those as a Lady Wildcat. Head is the all-time program leader in blocks.
The Lady Wildcats have made 264 three-pointers on the season. They program record is 302 in 2014-15.
Wildcat Trends & Numbers:
Bethel is 19-2 when they outshoot their opponents.
The Cats are 19-5 when they hit more three-pointers.
The Lady Cats are 15-0 when they outrebound their opponents.
Bethel is 16-1 when leading at the half.
The Cats are 13-9 when they have less turnovers.
Bethel is 10 -2 when they score 70 or more points in a game.
The victory marked another milestone in program history. It was Coach Chris Nelson’s 350th career win. He is 350- 168 at the school. He is 15th in wins among active coaches in the NAIA.
His teams have hit at least one three-pointer in each of his 518 games. He has led the program to fourteen national tournament appearances which include two Elite Eights and now four Sweet Sixteen appearances. His squad qualified for the 2020 national tourney which was not held due to Covid19.
Coach Nelson shared his thoughts on the big win.” Today was pretty sweet. Dakota Wesleyan was another great opponent, and our girls answered the bell. We were in a fight from the get-go and about midway through the first quarter we settled in and got things going. It was a great hostile environment, and our players responded every time we were on the ropes. Our league forces you to play uncomfortable every night so I thought our players were prepared for the adversity. It was a lot of fun to watch our girls celebrate and we are excited to move on.”
The Lady Cats will do just that, taking that shorter bus ride Sunday to Sioux City.
The Lady Wildcats will meet Southeastern, University the number one seed in the Naismith Quadrant and the number one ranked team in the nation. The Fire has won 27 straight and sports a 31-1 mark.
The championship takes place at the Tyson Events Center IN Sioux City from March 17-22.
Tip-off is scheduled Thursday at 1 p.m. CST.