Women's Hoops Avoids Upset in MSC Quarterfinal

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - When the Georgetown College women's basketball team last faced the Bethel College Lady Wildcats, the Tigers were unable to protect a halftime lead. For much of the second half on Thursday night, the story looked like it would play out similarly, but in the final moments of the game, the Tigers pulled out the win.

Georgetown (21-10) took advantage of Bethel (19-13) foul trouble in the final 4 minutes of the game, and the Tigers finished the game on a 12-2 run to take the win, 63-59.

Neither team started quickly on the offensive end of the floor, as the first field goal of the game was not made until the 6:48 mark of the opening quarter when Bethel's Millie Bryant gave the Lady 'Cats a 4-2 lead. Georgetown answered with a 7-0 run that included buckets from Jazzmyn Elston, Callie Jackson, and Grace White, to take a 9-4 lead. The Tigers were able to continue to lock down the Lady 'Cats on the defensive end, and after 10 minutes of play, Georgetown led 16-10.

Bethel quickly tied the score by scoring the first six points of the second stanza, but a Madison Darnell layup with 7:02 to go in the half gave the Tigers the lead, but Bethel took the lead, 19-18, moments later on a 3-pointer from Jenna Foust. Georgetown answered with a pair of free throw makes from Jackson and a traditional 3-point play from White to reclaim the lead 24-19. Moments later, Elston connected from long range to give Georgetown a 6-point lead, and in the final minute of the half, Darnell made a nice move down the right side of the lane to cash in an easy layup that gave Georgetown an 11 point lead. Bethel was able to cut the halftime deficit to nine, but with 20 minutes in the books, the Tigers led 33-24.

As the second half got underway, Bethel began to swing the momentum toward their bench. The LAdy 'Cats scored seven of the first eight points of the second half to trim the Georgetown lead to 34-31 with 7:45 to play, and the Tigers struggled to quell that momentum. Georgetown maintained a modest lead for the middle part of the quarter, but with 4:08 to go in the quarter, Bethel knocked in back-to-back 3-pointers to trim the margin to a single point. Bethel continued to push, eventually taking a 47-45 lead before Elston scored with only two seconds to play in the quarter, and with 10 minutes to play, the game was all square at 47.

Bethel scored the first bucket of the fourth frame, and the Tigers struggled to get shots to go in early in the frame. The Tigers were able to get to the foul line, but three different times in the period, Georgetown was whistled for lane violations that wiped away three free throw attempts, and Bethel led by six points twice in the frame. The second of those six point leads came off a made 3-pointer with 4:38 to play.

That's when the Tigers defense clamped down. Georgetown forced 11 consecutive missed shots from Bethel in the final five minutes, but the real game changer came with 3:48 to play. That's when Bethel had their second starter foul out of the game, and Georgetown took advantage. Jackson scored four straight points down low to pull the Tigers within one, and a layup from White with 35 seconds left gave Georgetown a 60-57 lead. Free throws from Elston and Lexie Stapleton helped seal the game at the line for the Tigers, and Georgetown survived with the 63-59 win.

Elston led the Tigers with 21 points, and she was joined in double figures by Jackson, who had 16, and White, who chipped in 11. Darnell led all rebounders in the game with 11, and she also dished out a team high four assists in the win.

As a team, Georgetown went 18-for-53 (34%) from the floor, and 5-for-16 (31.3%) from long distance. The Tigers made their biggest difference at the foul line, though, where they made 22 of 26 (84.6%) attempts in the contest. The Tigers also out-rebounded Bethel 35-32.

The win advances Georgetown to the MSC Championship semifinal, where they will meet up with the ninth-seeded Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders (16-14) who upset top-seeded Thomas More University 53-52 in the game immediately preceding Georgetown's win on Thursday. The game will be played at the Studle Financial Arena in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Sunday afternoon. Tip-off is slated for 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time.