Jeff Nickel wins 300th

Georgetown Head Coach Jeff Nickel secured a milestone win on Thursday night. With a 65-56 win at Bethel, Nickel earned his 300th win as a collegiate head coach. It also gave the Tigers their 20th win of the season and clinched a regular season sweep of Bethel.

The Tigers got off to a promising start with opening buckets from Izzy Lamparty and Teionni McDaniel. Bethel bounced back with 7 of the next 9 to take a one-point lead. Sophie Smith quickly ended the run with a three to give GC a 9-7 lead. After a Bethel basket, Smith then scored inside plus a free throw to give the Tigers a 12-9 lead. The lead doubled with 3:24 to go as AJ Stevenson nailed a three. Stevenson soon scored again to give the Tigers a 19-11 lead with 2:20 to play. Bethel then fought back and scored the last 8 points of the quarter to send the game to the 2nd tied at 19.

The second quarter proved the difference on the night. Anna Long hit an opening three and after a Bethel free throw, Sophie Smith did the same to give Georgetown a 25-20 lead just 1:56 into the quarter. Izzy Lamparty continued the run with back-to-back baskets for a 9-point lead. After a Bethel miss, AJ Stevenson nailed a 3 and then a jumper to give Georgetown a stunning 34-20 lead as Bethel called a timeout having scored 1 point in the first 4:44. The Wildcats got their first field goal out of the timeout, but were answered moments later by another Stevenson 3. Georgetown kept the roll going with Sophie Smith free throws and a Kayra Freeman basket. Bethel burned another timeout with 2:42 to play and trailing, 41-22. Georgetown ultimately outscored Bethel, 26-8, in the 2nd to take an 18-point lead to halftime. The Tigers shot 60% in the quarter while holding Bethel to 19% to build the lead.

Georgetown's offense slowed in the 3rd quarter with just 5 points in the first 5-plus minutes. The defense kept the Wildcats at bay as Bethel was only able to shave 3 points off the Tiger lead. AJ Stevenson got the Tigers going with another 3 with 3:57 to play for a 55-37 advantage. After an exchange of stops, Stevenson connected from the midrange to push the lead to 20. Georgetown led 61-41 going to the 4th.

The offensive struggles continued through the 4th for Georgetown. The Tigers made just 2 of 13 from the floor and missed all 8 of its 3-point shots. Kayra Freeman hit a jumper with 7:46 to play for a 63-43 lead. Bethel scored 13 straight to get as close as 7 but could not get any closer as the Tigers hung on for the 9-point win.

AJ Stevenson made her 2nd straight start and scored 20 for the 2nd straight game. She also pulled down 8 rebounds to go with 4 assists and 2 steals. Sophie Smith ended the night with 18 and Kayra Freeman scored 10 off the bench.

The Tigers will celebrate Coach Nickel's milestone win tonight but then prepare for a tough regular season finale at Freed-Hardeman on Saturday afternoon. Tip time is set for 2:00pm.