DOVER, Del. – Less than two seconds remained in regulation when the Bethune-Cookman University women's basketball team seized its first lead of the contest at the line 71-69, but the second-half surged comeback was not enough to keep the Wildcat win streak alive, as the Delaware State Hornets knocked down a half-court buzzer beater while time expired, stealing the 72-71 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory, Saturday, Feb. 7th in Delaware.
B-CU found itself down six at the half, 30-24, after the Hornets opened the contest on a quick 7-0 run.
The Lady Wildcats missed their first four shots and turned the ball over two times before redshirt senior Terrenisha Hollis put B-CU on the board at the 16:20 mark, 7-2.
DSU pulled ahead by as many as 11 points, and despite a 6-2 run from the Wildcats to close the half, the Hornets took the six-points lead into intermission.
At the break, redshirt sophomore Kailyn Williams headed B-CU with eight points, five board and three blocks, while DSU was carried by Tierra Hawkins' 13.
B-CU senior duo Hollis and Kayla Crawford, strung together an 11-6 Wildcat run to open the final twenty minutes, cutting the Hornets lead to two after a bucket from Crawford at the 14:29 mark, but B-CU continued to battle uphill as Hawkins scored five-straight for her Hornets.
Rookie Emily Williams', hoop-and-harm from behind the arc, turned into a four-point possession for the Wildcats, as B-CU trailed 41-38 with 13 left in regulation.
Two minutes later, E. Williams lit up the three-point line two more times, knocking down back-to-back treys, cutting the score to one, 47-46.
As time dwindled down, Hawkins' layup with 22 second left gave the Hornets the three-point advantage, and gave her points 33 and 34 on the afternoon.
During the Wildcats possession, sophomore Kendra Cooper found E. Williams in the corner, as the rookie knocked down her fourth three-ball in the half, knotting the game at 69 with 19 seconds left to play.
Shot clock off, DSU put the ball in the hot-hands of Hawkins, looking for the go-ahead basket, but a quick swipe from Cooper with three seconds left in regulation forced the Hornets to hack Cooper under the B-CU basket.
The MEAC's leading free throw shooter stepped to the line with 1.7 seconds on the game clock.
Cooper knocked down the first, as head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis signaled the four additional Wildcats across half court.
Second free throw from Cooper, good.
B-CU took its first lead of the contest, 71-69, with under two seconds left for the Hornets to attempt a final play.
DSU inbounded the ball under the Wildcats basket to Aaliyah Davis, who only saw six minutes of action and was scoreless to that point, after two dribbles Davis threw up the desperation half-court shot as the buzzer sounded, nailing it, ending B-CU's five-game win streak, with the 72-71 Hornet victory.
Four Wildcats finished in double-figures, led by Crawford's 15.
E. Williams finished two shy of her season-best with 13 points, shooting four-for-six from three-point range, K.Williams fell one rebound short of a double-double pulling down nine off the glass to her 13 points and Hollis poured in 11 to compliment a career-best nine steals before her early exit, fouling out at the 1:31 mark.
The Hornets, who shot an impressive 59.3% from the field in the second half, were paced by Hawkins' 34 points and ten board, while Mikah Aldridge added 15 points, 6 boards and dropped six dimes during DSU's second league victory.
After another seven-day break, B-CU returns to the court Saturday, Feb. 14 as the Wildcats welcome North Carolina Central University to Moore Gymnasium during B-CU's annual “Think Pink” game. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m., in Daytona.
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