DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The Bethune-Cookman Lady Wildcats mounted a major comeback in the second half on Saturday at Richard V. Moore Gymnasium, but the five-time defending Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Champion Hampton Lady Pirates countered with an offensive burst to hold on for the 61-54 win.
"Those guards are seasoned veterans," Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis said of Hampton's Malia Tate-DeFreitas, Kenia Cole and Kyani White, who combined for 38 points. "They all have a ring from being five-time champions. When the game got tough, that ball went into 1, 0, or 2's hands, and they made a difference in penetration."
Hampton put up four quick points to open Saturday's conference tilt, but Terrenisha Hollis pulled up in the lane and Lyndsey Edwards added a free throw to trim the deficit to a single point. Coming out of the initial media timeout, Hampton's offense caught fire and built up to their largest advantage at 36-18 with 3:05 remaining.
Closing out the period, it was all Bethune-Cookman, which carried a 6-0 run into halftime, trimming the deficit to 36-24. Taking advantage of 10 first half turnovers, Hampton scored 15 of their points off of B-CU giveaways. Although the Lady Wildcats shot 40 percent from the field in the opening half, HU logged 50 percent shooting.
While Hampton struck first in the second half, B-CU fired off a 15-2 scoring run aided by long-range hits by Emily Williams and Jasmine Knowles, trimming the Lady Pirates advantage to just three points with 11:25 to go. However, Hampton fought back with a 13-0 run of their own, rebuilding the lead to 16 points.
As the clock wound down, B-CU took another shot at the Hampton lead, scoring over six consecutive possessions on the efforts of E. Williams, Hollis and Kendra Cooper, bringing the deficit to 59-54 with just 38.2 seconds remaining. With the Lady Wildcats forced to foul, Malia Tate-DeFreitas and Kenia Cole each added a free throw, as HU's defense locked up the Lady Wildcats and held on for the 61-54 final, dropping B-CU to 1-2 in MEAC play.
E. Williams topped three B-CU scorers in double figures, putting up 13 points, including 3-for-6 shooting from the perimeter. Hollis added 12 points and five (5) rebounds. Knowles was perfect from the perimeter with 11 points and six (6) boards of her own.
Kailyn Williams led the Lady Wildcats on the glass with 10 rebounds and paced the defensive effort with seven (7) blocks for the second straight game.
The Lady Wildcats (4-11) return to action on Monday evening at Moore Gym, playing host to the Norfolk State Spartans with a 5:30 p.m. tipoff.
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