DURHAM, N.C. – Bethune-Cookman women's basketball made it five-straight as the Wildcats spoiled the North Carolina Central University senior day after a convincing 63-46 victory Saturday, Feb. 14 in McDougald-McLendon Arena.
It was a rookie dominated afternoon for B-CU during the 17-point victory, as freshmen Ashanti Hunt (Washington, D.C.), Angel Golden (Tampa, Fla.) and Chasimmie Brown (Deltona, Fla.) combined for 36 of the Wildcat's points and 15 rebounds. Hunt and Golden each scored 14 points with while Brown poured in eight.
Kailyn Williams (New Orleans, La.) swatted first shot of the game at the 6:31 mark, after Hunt collected the rebound and scored on the other end, giving B-CU the early 7-0 lead.
Tisha Dixon put the Eagles on the board for the first time in the game at the 6:04 mark before the Wildcats closed out the first quarter with a 12-7 lead.
A minute and 19 seconds into the second, stanza “Big Kay” swatted her 300th career shot after she sent a Dominique Adams shot and collected the rebound.
The B-CU bench contributed eight points during the second quarter, scoring 10 points in the paint, forcing nine NCCU turnovers and taking a 36-18 lead into the break.
At the break the Wildcats already knocked down six three balls, while shooting 42.9% from behind the arc and 45.2% from the field, compared to the Eagle's 23.3 first-half field goal percentage.
A youthful lineup spent majority of the second half on the floor for the Wildcats as 16 points from the bench came during the second twenty minutes of action.
After edging NCCU 17-to-13 in the third quarter, the 919 native Taylor Houston (Raleigh, N.C.) found Kendra Cooper (Spring, Texas) behind the arc at the 6:01 mark in the fourth, giving B-CU its largest lead of 25 (58-35).
The Eagles outscored B-CU 15-to-10 during the final stanza, but it was not nearly enough to overcome the dominating Wildcat performance as B-CU held onto the 63-46 victory.
In addition to the rookie trio, Cooper added 11 points to the Wildcat offense while Jasmine Knowles (Romulus, Mich.) and Houston each finished with six dimes and Williams swatted five NCCU shots and collected six rebounds.
Senior Tisha Dixon led the Eagles with a team-best 13 points and eight boards.
Bethune-Cookman returns to action on Monday, Feb. 15 as the Wildcats wrap-up their stay in the “Tar Heel State”, facing North Carolina A&T at 5:30 p.m., in Greensboro.
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– #HailWildcats –
