Women's Basketball
Lady Pilots Advance With First Round Win Over Cedarville
Game Summary
The Bethel Lady Pilots staged a first half comeback and held the Cedarville (Ohio) Yellow Jackets off 67-63 for a first round win at the NAIA Division II Women’s Basketball National Tournament.
The Lady Pilots got behind 33-20 in the first half when Rachel Hurley buried a three-point shot for Cedarville with 4:33 left to intermission and with 3:00 to go Bethel was still behind 35-27. The Lady Pilots closed the half on a five point run to make the difference a manageable 35-32.
Bethel kept the charge going with a basket by Kelsy McKee at the 18:35 mark and they took a lead with 18:15 left on a basket by Bekah Basinger. Cedarville re-took the lead on an Alison Lemon three-pointer with 9:12 remaining and Rachel Hurley followed that with a three-pointer at the 8:23 mark to establish a 51-47 advantage for the Yellow Jackets. Cedarville was unable to hang on to the lead and gave the advantage up at the 4:41 mark on a three-pointer by Bethel’s Basinger. The Lady Pilots never trailed again with Cedarville getting the score tied at 59-59. From there the Lady Pilots scored five in a row and held on for the 67-63 win.
Bethel was led by Basinger and Mandy Yoder’s 18 points each while Kelsy McKee and Heather Seyfred had ten points each. Amber Peters narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds for the Lady Pilots who were out rebounded 51-38.
“There was no question that we began the game with a lot of nervous energy,” said Bethel Coach Jody Martinez. “However, once we settled down and started executing the game plan, you could tell that the momentum had shifted in our favor.”
“Mandy Yoder and the bench did a great job of keeping us in the game in the first half and even though we were down three at the half, you could sense that we were going to play better in the second half. Once the jitters were gone, our starters really did a nice job in the second half attacking the basket and controlling the tempo of the game,” added Martinez.
Alison Lemon put in 18 for the Yellow Jackets while converting four three-pointers and Hurley had 12—all on three-pointers. Aubrey Siemon tossed in 11 and grabbed ten rebounds while Jenna Smith had game honors with 15 rebounds for the American Mideast runner-up.
This marks the first time in six National Tournament appearances that Cedarville has been eliminated in the first round. Cedarville ends the season 21-9.
Bethel advances to the second round of the tournament with a 23-8 record and the Mid-Central College Conference member will face the winner of the Morningside-Maine Fort Kent matchup. The second round game is scheduled for Friday, March 13 at 5:15 pm.
