BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — The No. 2 Freed-Hardeman University Lady Lions scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to defeat the No. 3 Bethel Wildcats to win the 2026 Mid-South Conference championship.
As the second seed of the tournament, the Lady Lions (27-3) used their range to take an early lead.
Ally Weathers dropped two 3-pointers to bookend a
Rachel Satterly triple to help FHU build a 9-2 lead after five minutes. FHU's defense stood strong, allowing just two made field goals from the Wildcats. Weathers scored 12 of the Lady Lions' 15 points in the first quarter to lead FHU to a 15-12 advantage at the end of the first quarter.Â
Satterly tallied early free throws, but top-seed Bethel (25-5) got hot from long range, bucketing two 3-pointers to eventually take a lead. In the final five minutes, just two field goals were made from each team, with
Carissa Curtis and
Jenna Satterly scoring in the last minute to give FHU a 28-27 lead at the break.
The Lady Lions came out strong in the second half, scoring seven of the first nine points to extend their lead to six points. The Wildcats answered in turn with six unanswered points to tie the game 35-35 with 4:06 left in the third quarter.
Lilly Kee and J. Satterly scored the rest of the points for the Lady Lions in the frame to help FHU lead 46-43 after three complete quarters
Bethel began the fourth quarter with five unanswered points to take a two-point lead; however, R. Satterly and Weathers connected for back-to-back 3-pointers. Though J. Satterly's jumper at 5:49 was the final made shot from the field in the contest, FHU tallied 10 points from the charity stripe to keep the Wildcats at bay until winning the championship, 64-56.
The Lady Lions had six steals in the victory to Bethel's two while the Lady Lions made 23 free throws while the Wildcats made 13.
Ally Weathers led all scorers in the championship match with her season's high point total of 23.
Jenna Satterly was 10-for-12 from the free-throw line to help her to 21 points while also recording four steals.
Rachel Satterly led the way with 11 rebounds all from the defensive side of the court.
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Up Next
With the Lady Lions already knowing they were hosting the first and second rounds of the 2026 NAIA National Tournament, the Lady Lions will now do so with the Mid-South Conference's automatic bid. They will learn their opponent and the rest of the tournament field on March 5.
