March 1, 2011

Final Stats

By Dan Ryan
B-CUAthletics.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - First it was overcoming a ten-point halftime deficit. Then it was overcoming leader scorer Jasmine Elum fouling out with 3:14 remaining. And there was a shaky start to overtime as well to overcome.

It's been a season of challenges for Bethune-Cookman, but the Lady Wildcats found a way to win and beat North Carolina Central 66-60 in overtime in the spacious Ocean Center Monday evening.

Elum scored 18 points, Sarah Bolden 13 and Amanda Hairston 12 as B-CU (13-13) snapped a three-game losing streak and kept alive the hope of a winning season with two games left.

"This was a big game for us emotionally," B-CU coach Vanessa Blair said. "It seems like the wind's been out of our sails the last couple of games. We talked to the girls about having a will to win. It's easy to be down on ourselves with the road we've had."

Hairston's free throw with nine seconds left gave B-CU a 53-52 lead, but the Lady Wildcats dodged a bullet when NCCU's Houston drew a foul with three seconds left, but only hit one of two free throws to tie the score at 53 to send the game into overtime.

NCCU (5-24) capitalized on a B-CU technical foul for the first three points of overtime, but Jasmine Bugg drained a three-pointer with 4:24 left that tied and gave the Lady Wildcats much needed momentum.

Bolden scored four points on an 8-2 B-CU run that put the Wildcats in control. NCCU was 1-9 from the field in overtime.

NCCU shot well in the first half - 47 percent - and was able to take a double-figure lead. B-CU's defense began to step up and worked the lead down. A Bolden free throw with 8:19 remaining gave B-CU a 42-41 lead.

Elum was 4-6 from three-point range before fouling out. Bolden and Hairston had nine and eight rebounds.

Jori Nwachukwu double-doubled for NCCU with 16 points and 15 boards.