Women's Basketball
Lady Pilots Picked First by MCC Coaches
In the annual Mid-Central Conference meeting held at Huntington University on September 14th, the Bethel College Women’s Basketball program was picked to finish first by the nine coaches. With a possible 81 points, Bethel received 76 points and 5 first place votes. Rounding out the top 5 in the pre-season voting was: (2) Indiana Wesleyan and St. Francis with 60 points; (4) Taylor with 57 points and (5) Huntington with 56 points. Bethel College won the regular season conference championship before losing in the final four round to Taylor in the conference tournament; who then lost to Huntington in the MCC finals.
Bethel College is currently back to back champions in the Mid-Central Conference. In the 2007-2008 season, Bethel won the regular season championship and the MCC tournament championship. In the 2008-2009 season, Bethel only won the regular season championship. Bethel has also made three straight NAIA National Tournaments finishing in the “Elite Eight” in ’07 and in ’08. Last season, they lost to the eventual champion Morningside in the “Sweet 16”.
“Pre-season voting is just what it means: pre-season. I think it is nice to be respected by your peers but we have a lot of work to do to uphold that #1 position,” quotes Head Coach Jody Martinez. “The teams in the Mid-Central Conference are getting better every year and this year is no exception. We had four teams at the NAIA National Tournament last season with all four teams making it to the ‘Sweet 16’. The Lady Pilots have been very motivated since the loss to Taylor in the MCC tournament and the loss at nationals against Morningside.”
