WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bethune-Cookman women's basketball finished its overextended stay in the Nation's Capital, as the Wildcats took down Howard, 81-77 on Tuesday, Jan. 26 in The Burr.
The B-CU junior duo, Taylor Houston (Raleigh, N.C.) and Kailyn Williams (New Orleans, La.) led the Wildcats as Houston tied her career-best (set three days prior) finishing with 23 points, while Williams earned her seventh double-double of the season (20th of her career) pouring in 21 and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.
Williams, this week's Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Defensive Player of the Week, also finished with four blocked shots.
A Houston three ball opened the game before senior guard Jasmine Knowles (Romulus, Mich.) finished in the paint giving the Wildcats the early 5-0 lead.
Howard's Sydni Johnson nailed one from deep at the 4:38 mark, to give the Bison their only advantage during the contest, leading 9-8.
An Angel Golden (Tampa, Fla.), three ball from Kendra Cooper (Spring, Texas) put the 'Cats on top by seven with under a minute left in the first, before Howard's Imani Bailey knocked down a pair of foul shots, and Shaylon Tarver sunk one from half count as the first quarter clock expired.
B-CU, led 21-19 after the first ten, shooting 3-for-4 from behind the arc as a team.
Williams could not be stopped in the second quarter, as the Wildcat's center went on a 6-0 run of her own midway through the stanza with a put-back basket and two buckets in the paint from Cooper.
With 1:21 left in the first half, the MEAC's leading scorer, Victoria Gonzales, faced up with Williams in the paint before Williams swatted her first shot of the night. Next time down the court for the Bison, Gonzales launched a three ball that Williams sent back to half court to end the half.
At the intermission, “Big Kay” had already collected ten points and was two boards shy of a double-double, as Houston led all scorers at the break with 12.
The Knowles-Cooper connection in the third quarter helped hold onto the Wildcat lead, as all ten of Cooper's points in the third came from Knowles. The two connected on back-to-back fast breaks giving B-CU its largest lead of the game at the 2:53 mark, going up by 12 (53-41).
The Wildcats saw their double-digit lead slip away with under three minutes left in the game as Howard used a 10-3 run to close the gap within three points and 25 seconds left on the game clock.
B-CU head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis used a timeout to advance the ball, as the Bison fouled Cooper on the inbound, sending her to the line where she knocked down two and extended the lead back to five.
Next trip down the floor for Howard, Johnson sank a three with 12 seconds left to play, cutting the lead to two, as another trip to the foul line for Cooper sealed the Wildcat victory, 81-77.
In addition to Houston and Williams' 20+ points each during the win, fellow junior Cooper added 18 and seven assists while Knowles finished with nine points and six dimes.
Williams' 12 rebounds was a team-best, as rookie Ashanti Hunt (Washington, D.C.) grabbed ten boards in her hometown.
Leading the Bison, Gonzales finished with 24 points and fellow senior Bailey earned 22. Tajzhane Dopson carried the defensive effort for Howard collecting 10 rebounds, trailed by Johnson with seven.
Bethune-Cookman returns to the Sunshine State after seven days north due to Winter Storm Jonas, while the Wildcats continue MEAC play Saturday, Jan. 30, hosting archrival rival Florida A&M in Moore Gym at 2 p.m.
For the latest information on Bethune-Cookman Wildcats Athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BCUathletics), Instagram (BCUathletics), Facebook (facebook.com/BCUathletics), or visit us at www.bcuathletics.com.
– #HailWildcats –
