DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Bethune-Cookman Lady Wildcats (6-15, 3-6 MEAC) battled back from a 14-point halftime deficit, but couldn't quite make it over the hump in the second half against Savannah State (13-9, 6-2 MEAC), falling to the Lady Tigers 71-64 on Saturday at Richard V. Moore Gymnasium.
The Lady Wildcats raced out to an early advantage, leading by as many as five in the early moments of the first half. However, Savannah State star guard Ezinne Kalu reeled off seven consecutive points to give SSU its first lead. Using four points from Shakeyia Colyer and a paint jumper from Kailyn Williams, B-CU knotted up the game at 23-all with 9:15 on the clock.
Driven by Kalu, SSU outscored the Lady Wildcats 18-4 into the half, taking a 41-27 halftime lead. At the break, Kalu's numbers carried the Lady Tigers, logging 18 first half points.
Coming out of the locker room at half, the Lady Wildcats came out firing, using three consecutive scores from Taylor Houston, Chastity René Taylor and Colyer to trim the deficit to single digits. Although SSU rebuilt the lead to 16, B-CU launched into a 14-3 run over a five-minute stretch to trim SSU's advantage to just five with 7:56 remaining. Three consecutive SSU scores allowed the Lady Tigers to rebuild their lead and hold off the Lady Wildcats, en route to a 71-64 final.
“A lot of it came down to their will to win versus ours,” Associate Head Coach James Howard said. “They made the crucial play when they had to. If they got offensive rebounds, they finished it. If they got the steal, they capitalized on it.”
“If we had capitalized on the offensive rebounds and steals that we got, we might be talking about a different story right now,” Howard added.
The Lady Wildcats shot 51.9 percent in the second half to outscore Savannah State 37-30 in the second half.
Turnovers were a considerable factor in Saturday's MEAC contest, as Savannah State converted 15 B-CU turnovers into 22 points, with 20 coming on the fast break.
Colyer shot 43 percent from the field for a team-high 19 points, with eight rebounds. Proving a big boost in the second half, Taylor put up 16 points. Williams added nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds, in addition to four blocks.
SSU's Kalu finished with 30 points, three assists and four steals in the contest.
“She was a difference maker, and she has been this year for them,” Howard said of Kalu. “She kept us at bay. It seemed like every time we made a run, she came back with either a crucial steal or a shot to keep them in front.”
The Lady Wildcats wrap up a four-game home stand on Monday with South Carolina State (5-13, 3-5 MEAC) coming to Moore Gym. The Lady Bulldogs fell to Florida A&M in Tallahassee on Saturday, 70-64.
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-B-CUathletics.com-
