MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Belhaven Women's Basketball team's upset bid of No. 5 Bethel University fell short Thursday night, falling 76-68 in Southern States Athletic Conference play.
 
The Blazers (13-8, 6-4 SSAC) were able to stay paced with Bethel (19-2, 10-0 SSAC) for most of the game and cut a double-digit deficit down to a 5-point gap with a minute remaining, but the Green and Gold were unable to make up the rest of the gap over the remaining time.
 
Ariel Wilson had a big night for the Blazers and led all scorers in the contest with 30 points. Wilson was 10-of-19 from the field, including two three pointers. She was also a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
 
The Blazers fell behind early on in the first half as Bethel jumped out to a 23-9 in the opening minutes.
 
Belhaven used a mini-run toward the end of the first half to go into the break trailing by just 10 at 41-31.
 
After shooting just 33 percent in the first half, Belhaven was able to have a better shooting performance after half time, helping the Green and Gold to stay with the Wildcats.
 
Kenya Wright and Candler Gregory helped Wilson in the second half as Wright finished with 11 points and Gregory added nine.
 
Belhaven finished the night shooting 43 percent (23-of-54), outshooting Bethel, who finished with 41 percent shooting from the field. The Blazers finished with 85 percent (17-20) shooting on the night from the free-throw line, also better than Bethel's 79 percent.
 
A big difference on the night came on the boards as the Blazers were outrebounded by Bethel 45-28. Bethel turned 17 rebounds on the offensive glass into 19-second chance points.
 
Wright and Sierra Pittman led the Blazers on the glass, each recording five rebounds. Wright also led the Blazers with three assists.
 
Belhaven will now set its sights on a conference test at Blue Mountain College on Saturday.