Jan. 22, 2011
Box Score
By Dan Ryan
B-CUAthletics.com
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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Tell Vanessa Blair that her Bethune-Cookman Lady Wildcats could pull off a 17-point comeback against Hampton and of course she'd believe her team would do it.
“We never quit,” said Blair, whose team was down 45-28 with 11:26 remaining to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference leader, Hampton, and rallied for a 55-51 signature victory Saturday afternoon at Moore Gymnasium. “The big thing is we need to execute.”
The Lady Cats (9-8 overall, 3-3 MEAC) did just that as Jasmine Daniels 11 to spearhead a B-CU comeback that saw the Lady Cats hold the Lady Pirates to four free throws in the final 6:18.
More importantly, B-CU found a way to silence the Hampton three-point shooting game, which produced more points (21) than the inside game (16). The Lady Pirates' last three-pointer was Jericka Jenkins' long-ranger that gave the visitors their largest lead.
B-CU's inside game started to establish control, and Elum battled her way through Hampton's strong defense down the stretch. Elum's lay-up with 1:54 remaining cut it to 50-47. After a Hampton free throw, the sophomore drained B-CU's only three-pointer with 58.6 seconds to make it a one-point game.
Amanda Hairston delivered the big defensive rebound of the game to set up B-CU's transition game, and Daniels finished the 3-point play that gave B-CU its first lead of the game, 53-51, with 28.6 seconds left.
On Hampton's next possession, Elum forced a turnover in the corner for the steal and got the ball to Daniels, who sank two insurance free throws. The senior was 7-7 from the line.
Sarah Bolden, slowed by foul trouble, finished with eight points and five boards while Hairston, the MEAC rookie of the week, posted seven points and eight boards.
“It's a big win for us,” Blair said. “Not because Hampton is the number one team in the conference, but we were coming off a bad game at Maryland Eastern Shore and we need to be consistent. This victory won't mean much if we can't beat Howard on Monday."
B-CU hosts Howard Monday at the Ocean Center with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
