BOCA RATON, Fla. – After suffering its largest first-half deficit of the season, the Bethune-Cookman women's basketball team battled back to win the second, before falling short against the 2015 FAU Holiday Tournament host Owls, 82-62 on Tuesday, Dec. 29 in the FAU Arena.
After trailing 47-17 at the half, B-CU outscored the Owls 29-24 in the third quarter, while shooting 5-for-8 from three.
Again the fourth B-CU outscored FAU, 14-11, although the second half 43-35 advantage was not enough to overcome the opening 30-point setback, as the Wildcats fell to the Owls 82-60.
The 30-point deficit marked the largest margin at the half during the 2015 season while the 82 FAU points marked the most points scored on the Wildcats this season, and the 22-point loss was largest margin of victory by an opponent since a 62-38 Stetson victory over B-CU on Nov. 21, 2015 at home.
A three-ball opened the contest for the third-straight game for the Wildcats, after Taylor Houston (Raleigh, N.C.) connected from downtown at the 7:55 mark in the first stanza.
Lyndsey Edwards (Indianapolis, Ind.) gave B-CU (6-7) its only lead of the contest at 7-6, after the sophomore knocked down a 15-footer at the 7:07 mark.
The Wildcats went cold during the next six minutes, before Houston was fouled on a layup attempt and knocked down two foul shots making the score 21-9 with 48 seconds left in the quarter.
Emily Williams (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) scored B-CU's third field goal of the first quarter in the final 18 seconds, as the Wildcats finished the stanza shooting 1-for-10 from the field, trailing FAU 21-11.
Opening the second quarter, FAU scored 11-straight points before Edwards knocked down a jumper at the 7:09 mark making it 32-13, Owls.
B-CU did not see another bucket until the 2:28 mark when Houston connected on a foul shot.
With 28 seconds left in the half, Jasmine Knowles (Romulus, Mich.) hit the Wildcat's second field goal of the quarter with the hoop-and-harm, knocking down the foul shot, putting 17 points on the board for B-CU before the break.
At the intermission, the 'Cats trailed 47-17, and were outscored 26-to-6 in the second quarter.
The Owls finished the game shooting an impressive 48 percent from behind the arc, knocking down 15-for-31 three balls.
Houston tied her season-best 20 points during the loss, shooting 13-for-16 from the line while Kendra Cooper (Spring, Texas) added 12 points and Knowles led B-CU on the boards with seven and dished a team-best five assists.
B-CU wraps up the 2015 FAU Holiday Tournament with the loser of the LIU Brooklyn/Miami (Ohio) game on Wednesday, Dec. 30 at 5 p.m., inside FAU Arena in Boca Raton.
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