DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Bethune-Cookman begins its quest for a fourth consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season title and that elusive NCAA tournament bid Wednesday when the Lady Wildcats hosts Edward Waters in their 2018-19 season opener.  Tip off is 6:30 p.m. in Historic Moore Gymnasium.

Bethune-Cookman is coming off a 24-7 campaign in 2017-18 that saw the Lady Wildcats post the most wins in program history as well as enjoy a brief stay in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis garnered her third consecutive MEAC Coach Of The Year Honor while Angel Golden and Ashanti Hunt were named Player Of The Year and Defensive Player Of The Year, respectively.

Golden enters the season as the MEAC Preseason Player Of The Year and is joined by Hunt and Chasimmie Brown on the conference preseason All-Conference team. The team enters the season receiving votes in the Mid-Major Top 25 along with North Carolina A&T, the defending MEAC tournament champions.

Wednesday's game is the first of a two-game homestand for the Lady Wildcats, who will host Liberty Friday at 7 p.m.

STATS AND STUFF: B-CU leads the all-time series 24-1…The lone Lady Tiger victory was a 58-42 decision in the 1976-77 season – the first year Bethune-Cookman reinstated the program … B-CU and Edward Waters have met on opening the last two years….B-CU won last year's game 101-60 as Angel Golden dropped 28 points and the team dished out a school record 30 assists.

SENIOR OPENING NIGHT STATS:
Chasimmie Brown – 13.5 ppg 8.0 reb
Angel Golden – 11 ppg 2.7 rpg
Ashanti Hunt – 6.7 ppg 7.3 rpg 2.3 asg

HEAD COACH VANESSA BLAIR-LEWIS: Is now in her 11^th season at the helm of the Lady Wildcats .. Her teams are 63-31 overall and 42-6 in conference games over the past three seasons … She needs 28 games to reach the 300 mark for her career … She's 7-3 in season openers at B-CU and 8-11 overall.. She's also on a six-game winning streak on Wednesdays dating back to 2016. Against Edward Waters, she's 6-0 lifetime.

WHAT'S BROWN DOING: Chas is currently 8^th on all-time blocks list with 65 … can become 4^th player to finish with 100 blocks

GOLDEN CHILD: Angel needs 172 points to reach 1,000 … An 18 ppg average would give her a strong chance to finish behind Erma Jones and Demetria Frank on all-time scoring list… Currently 3^rd on  3FG list and  needs 105 to break Kendra Cooper's record of 259…4) Will finish all-time 3FG% leader if she maintains current .348 clip
 
ON THE HUNT: Ashanti needs 1) 226 points for 1,000 2) Needs 108 rebounds to reach top 10 3) Needs 14 assists to reach top 10 4) Would be the first to be in all three categories 5) Is currently 10^th in steals 6) Would also be the first to reach in all four categories 7) Needs 6 blocks to reach top 10 8) Refer to #4 and #6 and add blocks 9) Currently 9^th in all-time FG% 10) Currently 2^nd in both FT and FTA.

MORE STATS: B-CU was just one of eight teams in the nation that held opponents under 27 percent 3FG shooting last season … The Lady Wildcats gave up 26.8 percent for 5^th place.

SCOUTING EDWARD WATERS: Coached by former B-CU assistant Charmaine Wilson, the Lady Tigers are off to a 2-1 start this season with wins over Allen and Webber International. They'll play Trinity Baptist tonight.

WEDNESDAY'S COVERAGE:  CATEYE Network will videocast with Nolan Alexander on color commentary and Willie Love handling play-by-play. Follow our official twitter feed @BCUWBB for in-game updates and this website for post-game interviews and photos.