Feb. 18, 2012

Box Score

By Dan Ryan
B-CUAthletics.com

ORANGEBURG, S.C. – Just because there's not a lot of basketball remaining in the regular season doesn't mean there's not a lot of basketball remaining in Demetria Frank. With her career winding down, the redshirt senior delivered a vintage Demetria Frank performance Saturday as Bethune-Cookman downed South Carolina State 69-65 in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference game.

Frank scored 15 of her 20 in the second half to spearhead a veteran-led performance as the Lady Wildcats (8-16 overall, 5-7 MEAC) erased a 12-point deficit. She was 6-9 from the field, 8-10 from the line and also had game-highs of eight rebounds and five steals. Her three-point play with 1:32 left gave B-CU a 67-60 lead and her free throw with 20 seconds left after steal helped the Lady Wildcats settle down and close the win.

“I have four regular seasons game left and I'm putting it all on the line for my team,” said Frank. “I think we can do great things.”

Jasmine Elum scored all 11 of her points in the second half, including a lay-up that gave B-CU a 59-58 lead with 3:36 remaining. Senior Jalisa Isaac scored all nine of her points on timely second-half three-pointers.

“Our veterans were solid,” said B-CU coach Vanessa Blair. “That's what they're supposed to do.”

Before that, the kids were all right and kept the Lady Wildcats in the game as they worked their way back from a 35-23 deficit.

Sophomore Kayla Crawford was one point away from a double-double, freshman Whitney King scored seven points in 23 points and Sharnese Neal had four points and five boards in 19 minutes.

B-CU cut its turnovers down to five in the second half and had a commanding 41-31 advantage on the boards.

“We struggled with their pressure, but we settled in during the second half,” Blair said. “This was a team win.”

B-CU plays at Savannah State Monday at 6 p.m.