FRANKFORT, Ky. - An old sports adage says it is hard to beat the same team three times in a season.

That may be the case sometimes, but it wasn't the case on Saturday afternoon in the Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions' national quarterfinal matchup with a familiar opponent in Bethel (Tenn.) University.

After sweeping two tight regular season contests, FHU notched its biggest win over the Lady Wildcats in both score and consequence with a 66-48 victory that sent the Lady Lions into their second-straight Fab Four appearance and fourth in the last seven years.

The win also set a new record for wins in a season for Freed-Hardeman, which improved to 35-1 and broke last year's mark of 34.

While this game wasn't in hand nearly as early as their first two games of the tournament, the Lady Lions never trailed after Cynthia Woodward drained a 3-pointer on their first possession.

A quick 7-0 run gave FHU a 22-13 lead at the 11:20 mark and another 7-0 run to end the half sent Freed-Hardeman to intermission with a 34-20 lead, despite playing the final six minutes of the half without leading scorer Hayley Newby after she picked up her second foul.

Bethel (23-11), though, got right back into the game with an 8-0 run in less than three minutes into the second half, cutting the Lady Lion lead down to six.

But Taleeah Cross made a 3-pointer to stop the Lady Wildcats' run, and FHU quickly retook control with a 12-4 run to go back up by 14 with 12:30 left. From that point on, Freed-Hardeman maintained a double-digit lead and continued to frustrate Bethel with its defense.

The Lady Lions went on another 12-4 run that started with a Kenley Crowell runner with 10:46 to play and ended on a Taleeah Cross basket with just under six minutes left that extended the lead to 61-40 and put the game out of reach.

Cross and Grace Alonso de Armino both had 14 points to lead FHU while Newby and Woodward both scored 11. Newby (15 rebounds) and Alonso de Armino (12 rebounds) both posted double-doubles as the Lady Lions out-rebounded Bethel, 51-45.

Bethel, a seven-seed, entered the game looking for its third straight upset after upsetting second-seeded The Master's (Calif.) and third-seeded Baker (Kan.) in the first two rounds. FHU has now won eight straight games over its former TranSouth Conference rival.

The win puts Freed-Hardeman into the Fab Four for the fifth time (1999, 2008, 2011, 2013) but the Lady Lions are still looking for their first win once there. Three times, they have lost to the eventual national champion including their last two trips. FHU will face the winner of Westminster (Utah) and Wiley (Texas) on Monday at 8:00 PM.