DeLAND, Fla. --  Blow it up? Heck, Bethune-Cookman vaporized it and then rebuilt it from the ground up Tuesday at the Hatter Classic at Stetson University's Edmund Center.

In less than 24 hours, the Wildcats morphed from a lumbering, offensively challenged team to a vibrant, upbeat one with an 83-78 victory over SIU-Edwardsville in one of the best December efforts of the Vanessa Blair Lewis era.

Angel Golden scored 21 points and led four Lady Wildcats in double figures as Bethune-Cookman (4-7) posted its best offensive output in a non-conference game against a Division I opponent since an 83-69 win over Nicholls State in December 2009.

After Monday's excruciating 69-60 loss to Tennessee State, Blair Lewis and her staff decided it was time for a change. Make that lots of changes.

"We haven't been able to score, and they say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result," Blair Lewis said. "I didn't want to do same thing over and over again."

So the Lady Wildcats featured a revamped starting line-up – Golden, Taylor Houston, Armani Walker, Kanesha Battle and Kailyn Williams and a total redistribution of the minutes.

"We recruited these players for our program for a reason," Blair Lewis said. "And we unleashed them tonight."

Good choice of words. Did it work?

Bethune-Cookman scored 31 – THIRTY ONE – first quarter points and was still on pace for the century mark with a 49-40 halftime lead. The Wildcats had season highs for three-pointers (nine) and shot a season-best 50.9 percent from the field despite yet another one of those fourth quarter scoring oblivions. 

This one was a six-minute stretch without a field goal that allowed SIU-Edwardsville (3-9) to manage a 78-78 tie on Nakia Bell's three-pointer with 1:10 to play.

"I wasn't looking at the score too much, because we've been there before," Blair Lewis said. "It was a matter of each possession, each second."

Battle, a freshman, made the most of it and hit the go-ahead three-pointer with 47 seconds left for an 81-78 B-CU advantage as well as her career-high 14^th point. Taylor Houston (16 points) iced the game with two free throws and a defensive rebound in the final seconds.

"I felt confident shooting the ball," Battle said. "We've had a rough start, but I figured if I could make some shots, then Coach would be happy."

Williams had a 16-point, 9-rebound, 5-block stat line that, after her career-high 24 point game Monday against Tennessee State, cemented her berth on the All Tournament team.

Blair Lewis gave the game ball to Golden, the sophomore who has become the team's most consistent scorer after registering three double-figure outings in the last four games. She was 8-of-15 shooting from the field in her second career 20-point effort.

"Kailyn [Williams] may have been all-tournament, but Angel [Golden] was right behind her. She had two great stat lines. I couldn't believe she played almost 40 minutes. She has come on strong."

Said Golden: "This feels really good being able to contribute for the team in a win."

The Wildcats will return from Christmas break with a December 29 game at Clemson.

"If you had asked me if we could put 80 on the scoreboard, I wouldn't have believed it possible after how we played yesterday," Blair Lewis said. "We've been in a place where we didn't think we would be. The non-conference slate gives you a chance to find out who you are."