Feb. 5, 2010
Final Stats
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BALTIMORE, Md. - Amidst the beginnings of a possible blizzard, the Lady Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman Women's Basketball came away victorious, Friday evening at Coppin State. While B-CU led the entire game, the Eagles of CSU put themselves into threatening positions several times, including the closing seconds of the game. The Lady Wildcats jumped out to an early double-digit lead, but spent the next thirty-one minutes fighting off CSU in what turned out to be a nail biter, with B-CU winning 56-54.
“I was extremely proud of how we started the game, especially being on the road, coming out of the gate and playing that well,” said Head Coach Vanessa Inge. “We gave ourselves a very big cushion.”
Riding a three-game winning streak, the Lady Wildcats showed up to play, getting on the board quickly, and taking off on a scoring run that would put B-CU on top 21-8 near the midpoint of the half. However, the Lady Wildcats faced two challenges, improved shooting by CSU, and their own scoring drought. Beginning with just over eight minutes remaining in the half, the Lady Wildcats failed to score for just a hair under six minutes, allowing the Eagles to narrow the B-CU advantage to just three points without an offensive response. The teams scrapped it out, with CSU trying to gain ground, and B-CU trying to keep their foothold, going into the half with B-CU leading 29-27.
“I thought that later on in the first half, and in the second half,” said Inge, “we struggled to make shots, simply because their zone worked for them and we were having a tough time connecting from the outside.”
The second half turned into a possession-game dogfight, with the difference hovering around a single possession for over six minutes, until B-CU created some breathing room with a small 8-4 run. The entire contest came down to the final two minutes, which began with B-CU leading by only three. B-CU demonstrated excellent clock management to keep their advantage and whittle the clock down, but two missed CSU free throws with only six seconds on the clock put the ball back in B-CU's hands with an ever-crucial rebound and outlet pass by Euneshia Proctor. A Coppin State foul put Jasmine Bugg on the line with just under two ticks on the clock, making one of two to secure the B-CU victory, 56-54.
While poor shooting late in the first half allowed Coppin State to climb back into the game, 24 team turnovers were a killer for B-CU, taking away scoring opportunities and allowing CSU to score 18 points off turnovers.
“The turnovers were completely unnecessary,” Inge said of B-CU's only major misstep this evening. “We had twenty-four turnovers, but we didn't turn the ball over once when they were pressing us. When they weren't pressing us, I don't know if our nerves got to us, but we weren't making good passes, but and turned the ball over far too much.”
The Lady Wildcats finished with three players in double figures, led by Demetria Frank with 17 points. B-CU got it done on the boards, outrebounding Coppin State and getting 12 points off second chance shots. Jalisa Isaac also got in on the scoring action, putting in 15 points. Isaac's early distance shooting had a huge impact on B-CU's early lead.
Four players finished with more than 7 rebounds, topped by Jasmine Daniels, with her first double-double of her B-CU career, collecting 10 rebounds and 10 points. Euneshia Proctor grabbed 9 boards including 4 on the defensive glass. Proctor also had 3 steals to lead the Lady Wildcats. Sarah Bolden also had 8 rebounds, while Demetria Frank tallied 7.
“We just stuck together as a team and held on,” concluded Inge “It wasn't as pretty as we would have liked, but we got some key rebounds at times, made free throws when we needed them, and got the stops when they were necessary.”
This win for the Lady Wildcats moves them into a winning record, now 11-10, and 6-3 in MEAC competition. Tonight's victory also sets the current B-CU winning streak at four, the longest since 2003-04. From here, the Lady Wildcats will stay in town to rest up for Monday's matchup with Morgan State, also in Baltimore.
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