DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Would you expect Kailyn Williams NOT to come up big?
 
With Bethune-Cookman trying to fend off an energetic Morgan State team, Williams completed a three-point play with 22 seconds remaining, then swatted away the Bears' potentially game tying layup as time expired to preserve the Lady Wildcats' 50-48 victory.

"I knew that my team was on my back and I had to make the clutch play," said Williams, who recorded an impressive 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven blocks performance.
 
Not only did Williams put numbers on the stat sheet, she forced MSU to shoot jumpers on defense while on offense, created hallways to the basket for quick guards such as Armani Walker and Ashanti Hunt.

"She was huge. We were a little stale on scoring, but we went to her and she was able to finish," said Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis. "Then she started converting free throws which gave us a little leeway

Morgan State used active hands on defense to force 15 first half B-CU turnovers, and jumped to an early 6-point lead.  

"The guts came in when we did not come out and get the start we wanted offensively," said Blair-Lewis. "We struggled for the first five minutes of the game, giving a good, scrappy team like Morgan State a lot of confidence."

Walker and Chasimmie Brown sparked a Wildcat run early in the second quarter, as the Wildcats gained control of the game and a 29-21 halftime lead.

The one-two punch of the bench worked well as Walker pushed the ball in transition and drove to the basket through the MSU double team defense near the sidelines, which exposed the soft spot in the paint for Morgan State, and opened up opportunities for Brown, who converted all four of her field goal attempts.

"She [Brown] has earned her way to go on for a lot of minutes, it's just that we are trying to keep her out of foul trouble," said Head Coach Blair-Lewis. "The foul trouble is what keeps her on the bench."

MSU switched to zone defense in the third quarter, which helped to stop the Wildcats from driving to the basket and continue forcing turnovers. Clogging up the paint with zone defense worked well because B-CU shot only seven  three pointers, making two.

The Lady Wildcats are now 6-8 for the year, and 2-0 in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play.