DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kendra Cooper scored 14 of her 15 points in the second half, and
Kailyn Williams reached the 1,000 point career scoring mark in Bethune-Cookman's 72-58 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over Delaware State Saturday on Coach Cy Court in Historic Moore Gym.
With the victory and Hampton's 55-51 loss at Savannah State, the Lady Wildcats now lead the conference by a half-game over Hampton and one over Norfolk State and Howard.
Williams, who finished with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, became the Lady Wildcats' ninth 1,000 point scorer when she finished a traditional three-point play with 3:57 remaining in the first half.
After missing her first 10 shots, Cooper made six of her final eight attempts as she helped Bethune-Cookman (11-9 overall, 7-1 MEAC) turn a 34-29 halftime lead into a 56-36 advantage on
Chasimmie Brown's lay-up with 3:06 remaining in the third quarter.
Cooper had eight points in the third quarter, while
Emily Williams had six. Both were 2-2 from three-point range.
Delaware State closed to 60-50 on Kia Abrams' three-pointer with 7:34 to play, but the Lady Wildcats used an 8-2 run to take a 68-52 lead on
Kailyn Williams' lay-up with 4:51 left.
Taylor Houston and
Emily Williams each posted nine points and five rebounds for the Lady Wildcats, while
Ashanti Hunt had six points and seven rebounds.
Angel Golden and Brown each scored six.
Kailyn Williams had 10 first-half points as Bethune-Cookman took a 34-29 halftime lead. Her 1,000 points gave the Lady Wildcats a 27-25 lead and were part of a 10-4 run that closed the quarter.
NaJai Pollard posted a 22-point, 10 rebound double-double for Delaware State (3-20,2-8) while Mikah Aldridge scored 16.
???????Bethune-Cookman hosts Howard Monday.
HEAD COACH VANESSA BLAIR LEWIS
"Parts of this game were good for us. Turnovers were low (11), offensive rebounding was strong, and we shared the ball well."
"The defensive effort was not what we would like it to be. We played well in spurts."
"The third quarter we woke up and we starting play well."
[ON KENDRA COOPER'S SHOOTING]: "My conversation with Kendra at half is you're 0-0 (from the field). We never try to focus on what's happened in the past. When you're a shooter, you have to have a short memory."
[ON KAILYN WILLIAMS]: "We knew that was upon and it would only be a matter of time. We're very happy for her. Scoring 1,000 points puts her in good company."
[ON A FIRST HALF HUSTLE PLAY BY KANESHA BATTLE WHERE SHE BLOCKED A SHOT ON DEFENSE, THEN SNAGGED AN OFFENSIVE REBOUND AND WENT TO THE LINE IN ONE SEQUENCE]: "She gave us a lot of energy off the bench – energy we weren't playing with until then. That was definitely a spark."
KAILYN WILLIAMS
"It will probably sink in tomorrow, but right now I'm happy with the win. I've had a scoring drought and I need to play better."
KENDRA COOPER
"I haven't shot the ball to my capability all season. When we share the ball, we get open looks."
NOTES: Delaware State finished 18-63 (28.6 percent) from the field. That's the sixth time this season the Lady Wildcats have held a team under 30 percent…This was
Kailyn Williams' third double-double of the season and 26
th of her career…Cooper now has a season-long streak of double-figure games with 4….Cooper's six assists were a season-high.
