DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Lady Wildcats remained perfect in the program series over Edward Waters, stretching the streak to 20-0 with the 63-53 win, Monday night before a crowd of 829 at historic Richard V. Moore Gymnasium.
“It's good that the girls got a little bit of that confidence back with a win under the belt,” Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis said.
The Lady Tigers (3-5) and Lady Wildcats (2-5) traded scores for the opening eight minutes of play in Monday night's non-conference action, but Bethune-Cookman began to create separation near the midpoint, responding to Edward Waters taking its final lead at 14-13, with 12:30 to go in the opening period.
The Lady Wildcats launched into a 13-3 scoring run over the next eight minutes, granting the Lady Wildcats the breathing room necessary to put the Lady Tigers away in the second half, carrying a 31-23 advantage into the locker room at the break.
The momentum carried over to the second period, as B-CU outscored EWC 13-4 through the first eight minutes of the half, building to a game-high 17-point lead.
EWC chipped away at the lead, but B-CU clung to a double-digit advantage until the final four minutes, when former B-CU guard and current EWC forward Amber Antoine stepped into the hero role to twice narrow the Lady Tigers' deficit to a single digit, with the last coming on a five-point burst in the final seconds to narrow the B-CU lead to a second half-low six points.
However, guards Shakeyia Colyer and Kendra Cooper stepped up at the free throw line to rebuild the lead, sending the win final at 63-53.
While the Lady Wildcats logged their exact scoring total from their last appearance at Moore Gymnasium, the defensive effort limited EWC to just 30 percent shooting and maintained the margin.
“We ran three or four different defenses, and when the girls were on the same page, we looked really good,” Blair-Lewis noted.
The biggest offensive key in B-CU's scoring runs was the output of senior Chastity René Taylor, who topped the Lady Wildcats for the sixth time this season, putting up 16 points, in addition to season highs of six rebounds and four steals.
Every B-CU player who entered the game logged at least a pair in the scoring column, 10 players in total, with Colyer and Cooper providing offensive support for Taylor with nine points each, while Deja Gibson logged seven. Taylor Houston grabbed eight rebounds to lead the effort on the glass and Kailyn Williams had three blocks.
Under the sideline leadership of former B-CU assistant coach Charmaine Wilson, now in her third season at EWC, Antoine led the Lady Tigers with a double double of 13 and 13 on 41.6 shooting from the field.
The Lady Wildcats return to life on the road at the end of the week, as B-CU opens Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play with contests at Norfolk State (Saturday, Dec. 7) and Hampton (Monday, Dec. 9).
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.
-B-CUathletics.com-
