Women's Basketball
"Dogg Attack" Leads Lady Pilots Rout of King College
Game Summary
Who Let the Doggs Out?
Many have pondered the question, and on Thursday night in the opening round of the NCCAA Women’s Division I National Championship, the answer was… Bethel College Head Coach Jody Martinez.
Sparked by a ferocious trio of freshmen affectionately referred to as “Doggs”, Bethel was energized early and often, jumping out to an quick lead and never looking back in a 72-53 quarterfinal victory over King College.
Bekah Basinger’s 10 first half points led the Lady Pilots in the opening stanza but it was the suffocating and somewhat mesmerizing play of Alyssa Toupin, Ashley Ort, and Lindsay Rich – The Doggs, that forced 14 first half King turnovers and gave Bethel a 36-24 lead at the break. Neither team shot well from the floor but the Lady Pilots shot just well enough (38%) to take control of the game.
King was able to cut into the lead briefly in the opening minutes of the second half, getting as close as 8 points (42-34) but Bethel found their shooting touch and built their lead to as many as 26 points to coast to the win.
It was a game of milestones for Bethel as junior shooting guard Heather Seyfred (Galien, MI) drilled a 26 footer on the right wing to move past the 1,000 point mark in career scoring. Seyfred, in just her second year at BC, finished with 15 points on the night and joined her backcourt buddy Mandy Yoder, who achieved the same feat just a game before.
Equally impressive was the coaching prowess of Jody Martinez, who earned his 300th career victory in just 12 seasons at the helm of the Lady Pilots. Martinez has won an amazing 20+ games in each of his 12 years at BC as the Lady Pilots improved to 21-12 on the season and move into a semifinal match-up with defending national champion Mount Vernon Nazarene, Friday night at 7:00 PM.
In addition to Bethel’s carnivorous canine defensive effort, the Lady Pilots also brought balanced scoring. Basinger was brilliant on the night, canning 8 of 11 shots to lead all scorers with 20 points. Seyfred added 15 and Yoder chipped in with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Sophomore guard Jordan Robbins rounded out those scoring in double figures, scoring 12 on the evening, including a dazzling, off-balanced 360 degree spinner that tickled the twine to the delight of the Lady Pilot faithful.
“Tonight’s win was very special for many reasons,” said Coach Jody Martinez. “The most important reason is the fact that we are moving on to the final four. I thought our defensive intensity was very good tonight but we will need to do a much better job of rebounding tomorrow against a bigger Mt. Vernon team,” added Martinez. “Winning 300 games is very special and I am really excited for Heather and her 1,000th point tonight. Milestones like these are great, especially when we recognize that they are both the product of unity and what our entire team has done together.”
