Phoenix women take season series from Bethel in 67-64 battle
Feb. 21—MCKENZIE — Cumberland's women hit the road for the final time this Mid-South Conference season last Saturday and took the season series over Bethel 67-64.
The Wildcats opened the scoring, hitting a deep 3-pointer, something that would be one of the themes of the afternoon. Kayla Gordon jumped on the wagon, hitting a 3 of her own, and Lindsey Freeman followed her up soon after to give CU an early lead.
Gordon kept up the pace of the game, scoring a quick seven points in the first quarter, with both sides going back and forth. Little split the two teams in the first period, except for the Phoenix finding themselves ahead of Bethel in the rebounding battle.
The second quarter started off just like the first ended, with both teams lighting it up from beyond the arc. Maddie Brillhart opened the quarter with a 3 and Alyssa Goehring matched her effort just a minute later.
Bethel continued to rally and not allow the Phoenix to pull away for very long at a time, though Cumberland's 3-point shooting ignited the Phoenix to build a strong lead by the end of the quarter. In the final minute of the quarter Freeman made two huge plays leading to a 3-pointer in transition. First was a strong outlet pass, hitting Emaliegh Tarpley in stride, and then a last second steal for a Brillhart buzzer-beating effort.
Cumberland hit a season-high nine 3s in the first half en route to a 41-33 lead at the break.
After such a strong second quarter, the Wildcats looked like they made a concerted effort to stop the Phoenix's offense, playing much more in the halfcourt. Mariyah Person had a huge second quarter with a 10-point effort, and her third was just as strong.
Though she only scored five points, Person grabbed two rebounds and kept the Cumberland offense flowing while the Wildcats did everything they could to slow them down. With three minutes left in the period, the Phoenix had their largest lead of the game at ten points, but took a seven point lead into the final quarter.
It took more than two minutes of the quarter for either team to score, but Freeman broke the goose egg with one of her signature midrange jump shots. Though Freeman opened the quarter, Bethel took over from that point on and mounted constant pressure on the Phoenix.
Scoring 10 in a row, the Wildcats took the lead after six minutes had surpassed, but Brillhart answered quickly and the Phoenix never looked back. Gordon hit two late free throws to make it a five-point game and Bethel would hit one late layup to make it a 67-64 final score.
The Phoenix will be at home for their final two games of the conference season with the University of the Cumberlands coming to town first. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Dallas Floyd Phoenix Arena/Cliff Ellis Court. Georgetown will come in for Saturday's season finale.
