DENTON, Texas – Offensive struggles plagued the Bethune-Cookman women's basketball team in its first game of the UNT Hospitality Hill Challenge, failing to take advantage of opportunities in the second half, and dropping a 57-45 decision to Grand Canyon Saturday in The Super Pit.
After Grand Canyon took advantage of a sluggish start to seize a 10-point lead midway through the first half, B-CU came alive with an 11-0 run to claim its first advantage of the game, 18-17. The teams went basket-for-basket until the final 1:17 of the period, when the Antelopes forced three steals and scored six unanswered points to lead 27-22 at the half.
The Lady Wildcats held the Antelopes to just 27.3 percent from the field in the second half, but their own shooting was perilous, made apparent by a field goal-less stretch over the first 8:32 of the second half.
Bethune-Cookman began to show life with 11:28 remaining, when a Chastity René Taylor layup ended the scoring drought, followed by a layup and free throw from Kayla Crawford to pull within striking distance at 38-35.
In addition to offensive woes, a lack of made free throws hurt B-CU's chances of taking over the game. The opposite was the case for GCU, which scored 12 of its final 16 points at the charity stripe. Turnovers were also lopsided as they forced 18 steals to B-CU's three. The game ended on a 19-10 run in the favor of Antelopes.
Taylor accounted for a majority of the offense with 20 points; her second consecutive 20-plus point outing. Taylor Houston pulled down eight rebounds to lead the defense, and Kailyn Williams had three blocks and one steal.
Grand Canyon (3-0) had three players achieve double-digits in scoring, led by Deanna Daniels' 20 points. Johnna Brown provided a balanced performance of 11 points and 10 rebounds for the game's only double-double.
Bethune-Cookman (1-4) wraps up the UNT Hospitality Hill Challenge Sunday at 6 p.m. ET when they face host North Texas in The Super Pit. The UNT Mean Green face Abiline Christian at 7:30 p.m. CST in tournament action.
The official hashtags for the respective games will be: BeatGCU and BeatUNT, and #HailWildcats.
To join the conversation about the 2013-14 season, please tag your social media posts with the official hashtag of B-CU women's basketball, #PlayersStartTeamsFinish. And, of course, don't forget about #HailWildcats.
-www.B-CUathletics.com-
