Bethel women end their season with loss at Tabor
The Threshers finished the season 9-13 in conference play with two All-KCAC selections.
HILLSBORO — The Bethel women’s basketball team ended their 2023-24 season in the first round of the KCAC postseason tournament, against the top-ranked Tabor Bluejays, 67-39.
Despite the loss, the Threshers had a good game on the boards, tying the rebounding total of the Bluejays at 36. Tabor, the regular season champs with a 21-1 KCAC record, takes on Saint Mary, the two seed, in the conference championship game on Monday night.
The Threshers defied expectations throughout the season, coming into the season with an interim head coach in Rocky Lamar, and losing multiple impact players from last year’s roster. Bethel also fought back from an 0-5 start to the year, fighting their way to a win-and-in season finale against Sterling.
The Threshers also had two All-KCAC honors in freshman Kendall Locke and junior Natalie Richards. Locke, Bethel’s leading scorer with 14.5 points per game, earned an All-Freshman team and 3rd team selection. Locke also finished second in the conference in Freshman of the Year voting. Richards, the Thresher's second-leading scorer, added an Honorable Mention All-KCAC nod.
This Threshers team has one of the highest potentials in the entire KCAC. They finished with a 9-13 record in conference play, with a roster that saw many underclassmen play a substantial amount of minutes.
Bethel has a multitude of leadership coming back, with six juniors who are foreseeably returning next season to lead the squad. The only question for the Threshers is at the coaching position. However, it is needless to say that whoever is coaching next year, whether we see a return of Hall-of-Famer Rocky Lamar or a coach who is new to North Newton, Bethel is a team to watch next season, seemingly poised to make a splash in the KCAC.