Photos By MCSN Alan Lewis/USS George Washington (CVN-73) PAO

Last Look: E. Williams Jump Starts B-CU Offense

NORFOLK, Va. -- Kendra Cooper scored 12 points and Emily Williams added 11 as Bethune-Cookman advanced to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament championship game with a 59-42 semifinal victory over Florida A&M Friday afternoon.

The Lady Wildcats (21-9) will face Hampton, a 64-62 winner over North Carolina A&T, Saturday at 3 p.m.

Bethune-Cookman overcame a slow start that saw Florida A&M (13-19) take an early 10-2 lead, but Williams scored seven points in the final 2:10 of the period that allowed the Lady Wildcats to take a 15-14 advantage after one period.

Williams started the second half with a three-pointer to give Bethune-Cookman a 28-22 lead, but Florida A&M rallied to tie it at 29-29 on a Florence Outtara lay-up with 6:22 left in the period.

Bethune-Cookman began pulling away, holding Florida A&M scoreless five minutes to take leads of 39-31 on a Chasimmie Brown lay-up with 1:52 and 41-33 on two Cooper free throws with 42 seconds left.

The Lady Wildcats held Florida A&M to 2-10 shooting from the field in the final 10 minutes, and Brown's lay-up with 5:09 gave

Bethune-Cookman its biggest lead at 55-36. Florida A&M never got closer than 13 after that.
Cooper, a senior, also had five rebounds and five assists as the Lady Wildcats advanced to a championship for the first time since 1992. Williams, a junior, had seven rebounds.

Ashanti Hunt added nine points and Taylor Houston seven. Kailyn Williams only scored two points, but posted nine rebounds and four blocked shots, moving her past Oklahoma's Courtney Parris and IUPUI's Brooke McAfee into fifth on the all-time Division I list.

Florence Ouattara led the Rattlers with 11.

HEAD VANESSA BLAIR LEWIS
"One of those games in where you survive. We had that slow start, but it came down to the  defensive effort we have had all year."

"Offensively we just had to settle down and make those easy shots. Once we settled down and got into that rhythm, our defense generated offense.

"Depth is key during conference tournament. During non-conference, we had underclassmen step up and give quality minutes.
For us to win a championship, we have to have the bench to give us separation."

KENDRA COOPER
"Emily is a spark for us.  I told her we were going to need her today and she needed to be aggressive."

EMILY WILLIAMS
"Coach gave me the confidence and fire that I needed. When we  were down, I remember what she told me and went out and did it."

"We knew we didn't want to have the same results as last year. We knew we had to come in with more fire, more passion and not give up."

NOTES: This was the Lady Wildcats' 12th consecutive win...Bethune-Cookman made it 3-for-3 against the Rattlers this season and have won eight of the last 10 games of the rivalry....The Lady Wildcats posted their first 21-win season since the 1984-85 team went 21-5...Bethune-Cookman topped Wednesday's 53-43 win over Savannah State for fewest points given up in a MEAC tournament....Cooper, Kailyn Williams and Alea Godfrey now have four tournament wins.The Lady Wildcats held Florida A&M to 22.2 percent field goal shooting -- the 14th time a team has been held under  30 percent...Emily Williams hadn't scored double-figures since back-to-back 11-point games against  Jacksonville and Stetson back in November.