Tip-off time was supposed to be at 1 p.m. Saturday in a big showdown of highly ranked MCC foes Bethel and Marian.

Apparently the Lady Pilots didn’t get the memo.

It was at the 15:13 mark of the first half when the 10th-ranked Lady Pilots decided to play ball, surging back quickly on a 15-4 run of their own and ultimately knotting the game at 28-28 on a Kristen Hicks layup at the 4:26 mark and then taking a 40-38 lead into the halftime break.

Bethel went on to defeat Marian 81-72.

After showing no signs of life early on, Bethel was sparked by the scoring of juniors Laura Johnson and Hicks, who combined for 26 of the Lady Pilots’ first half points.

The game remained close in the second half until a burst of energy by Bethel freshman Chelsea Ward helped the Lady Pilots take over the game. The hometown point guard scored eight points in a three minute span to help Bethel build a 14 point lead at 67-53 with just over six minutes remaining. The Bethel lead would get as high as 17 points and as low as five with just 43 seconds left but sharp shooting from the free-throw line sealed the Bethel win.

Johnson led the way again with 28 points, while Hicks finished with 13 points and Ward a career high 12 off the bench. Bethel also won the battle of the boards with junior Georgia Boisse hauling in nine and freshman Ashley Lutz eight. The Lady Pilots also forced 22 turnovers on the afternoon, while committing just 14 of their own.

“Our bench was huge today,” Bethel College coach Jody Martinez said. “I was so excited by the efforts of everyone, but I need to give some extra love to our two freshmen today — Chelsea Ward and Ashley Lutz. It was good to see them relaxed and play to the level they are capable of playing.

“We had a great team effort and we are starting to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. Laura Johnson did a good job of recognizing when she was open and her teammates did a good job of setting screens and passing her the ball. Kristen Hicks did an outstanding job of attacking the basket to get us going once we were down 14. I was really happy to see us finally hit free-throws too.”

The win moves Bethel to 14-3 overall on the season and 6-0 in the MCC. The Lady Pilots will host Grace College at the Wiekamp Center tonight in a doubleheader with the men’s team. Tip-off for the first game is at 5:30 p.m.