Box Score
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Blazers hoped to get a little revenge on Thursday night as they traveled to take on No. 16 Bethel University. Their bid at an upset fell just a bit short despite a strong performance as the Blazers lost to the Wildcats 61-54 on the road.

November 13, 2012 was a bittersweet evening for the Blazers.

The game was their first true home game after completing a tournament at Rugg Arena the weekend before. The arena was packed to the brim with Belhaven students and parents, cheering for their favorite Blazer athletes alike.

For 39 minutes and 59 seconds it looked like Belhaven would pull off the upset against the then 22nd ranked team in the NAIA. That was until Katie VanDyke, who was 0-for-5 from behind the arch, nailed a three-point shot from the left corner as time expired to give the Wildcats an improbable 59-58 comeback victory.

Although that game was over two months ago, the sting of that loss was still very fresh in the minds of the Belhaven players. They have played some of the best teams in the country to tight games only to come up just short in the end.
The intensity against a top opponent was there again on Thursday evening with the Blazers showing a set of offensive firepower that has not been consistent all season.

Belhaven (9-15) came out shooting and did not stop the entire first half. The only issue for the Blazers was that the Wildcats started the game with a red hot performance of their own.

The two teams combined for 44% shooting from the floor with Belhaven holding the slight edge in that category at 45%. Belhaven was selective on their three-pointers taken and went 3-for-5 from downtown for an impressive 60% mark.
Despite the offensive prowess shown by the Blazers, Bethel held a 35-32 halftime lead thanks to a late spurt by the Wildcats.

Neither team could put together a big run in the second half. Every time the Blazers would put points on the board, the Wildcats would soon follow suit and vice versa. Bethel did not lead by more than five points in the first fifteen minutes of the second half, but they never trailed either.

The Blazers would bring the game back within one point several times throughout the half, but could not jump over the hurdle to reclaim a lead. A hard fought battle finally caught up with Belhaven in the final minutes of the contest, as the depth of the Wildcats pushed past the tired Blazers to grab a double digit lead.

Belhaven would claw their way back to the single digit mark, but could not get the deficit any lower than what the final score showed on the stat sheet.

Ashley Wakefield notched another 20-point performance, finishing with 21 points and five rebounds. Erika Leflore had 10 points and nine rebounds to hover around her season averages. Alisha Rayborn and Antonekia Williams both pitched in nine points as well to round out the scoring for the Blazers.

Belhaven returns home on Saturday afternoon for a Southern States Athletic Conference matchup with Auburn-Montgomery starting at 2:00 PM.