Bethel women fall to 6-7 in conference play with loss to Kansas Wesleyan
Stupey shot 100% from the field as the Threshers move to 9th in the standings.
The Bethel women’s basketball team fell to Kansas Wesleyan on Wednesday, 63-60, as another comeback bid came up just short for the Threshers.
The Threshers tied the game up at 51 before trading leads back and forth for the rest of the game with the Coyotes. The result ultimately ended with the Threshers losing their third game in a row, to move to 6-7 in conference play.
“The girls played hard tonight,” said interim head coach Rocky Lamar. “It’ll be really light [Thursday] but we will get after it on Friday for McPherson.”
Bethel did have bright spots in the game against the Coyotes. They forced Kansas Wesleyan into 24 turnovers, ten more than their own total. Unfortunately, the Threshers were not able to win the rebounding battle however, losing 45-31 on the boards.
“I love to win,” said Lamar. “And it’s time we start winning. Let’s not have anymore confidence builders.”
Lamar, the Hall of Famer with 809 career wins in college basketball, is not shying away from the 3 game losing skid for the Thresher,s making it clear that they need to get back on track if they want to make a run in the KCAC tournament, as they are a bubble team, sitting in 9th place in the standings.
The Threshers were led in scoring by Natalie Richards, with 17 points, and Josie Stupey added 12 on 100% shooting from the field. Kendall Locke stuffed the stat sheet again for Bethel, with 13 points, 8 eight rebounds, and five assists and making herself a consistent contributor this season.
Bethel hit only four 3-point attempts against the Coyotes, and have struggled to put together a complete game on the offensive side of the court. With nine games remaining in conference play, the Threshers still have an opportunity to right the ship, and make the conference tournament.
On their next game against McPherson, coming up on Saturday, Lamar was confident that it is going to be an entertaining one for alumni night.
“They’ll be ready,” said Lamar. “We better be ready as well.”
The Threshers will be back in action on Saturday at 5 p.m. as they take on the McPherson Bulldogs on alumni night.