CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Angel Golden scored 18 points in Bethune-Cookman's 73-69 loss at Charlotte Friday night.

The senior made three three-pointers in the final 27.8 seconds as the Lady Wildcats cut a 63-49 deficit to 72-69 on Golden's three with 7.2 seconds left. Charlotte (8-3) kept BCU at bay by sinking 11 of its final 12 free throw attempts.

Five Lady Wildcats were in double figures, with Kiana Williams scoring 12, Kindell Fincher and Chasimmie Brown 11 each and Amaya Scott 10.

Laia Raventos led the 49ers with 16.

The 49ers scored the final seven points of the first quarter to take a 17-10 lead, and BCU spent the game battling back to within striking distance.

The Lady Wildcats used an 11-3 to make it  22-21 on Fincher's layup with 4:55 left in the half. Armani Walker later scored consecutive layups off steals to close a 27-21 gap to 27-25, but the 49ers took a 36-28 halftime lead.

A 7-2 run at the start of the second half closed BCU to 38-35, but Charlotte pulled away to a 49-35 lead. Fincher scored four points on a 7-0 run that cut the deficit in half entering the fourth.

Charlotte had a 63-49 advantage before Scott hit lay-ups that triggered a 9-0 BCU fourth quarter run before Golden's late flurry.

BCU returns to North Carolina next week to open Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, meeting North Carolina Central on Jan. 5 at 2 p.m.

BCU HEAD COACH VANESSA BLAIR-LEWIS

"We had some good looks at the basket and had a decent first half, but then we started turning over the ball … that led to them getting transition baskets. That was tough to overcome."

"We needed to be sharper on our transition defense."

"Kindell did a great of shooting the 3 and getting to the basket."

"Angel made it exciting at the end."

"Closing the non-conference chapter meant learning a lot of lessons and moving to these next 16 games. There were bright spots in this game, as well as the non-conference season. We're learning how to play without Ashanti Hunt  and excited about moving on the conference play."

CHARLOTTE HEAD COACH CARA CONSUEGRA

"We knew that Bethune-Cookman would be a great team and they're likely going to win their conference. Angel Golden will likely be player of the year. We knew we had to be on point."
 
NOTES: BCU's 27-point fourth quarter was its highest scoring quarter of the season; the previous high was 26 in the third against North Florida … Golden now has five career games with six of more 3FGs AND five multi-block shot games … Scott reached double figures for the fourth time this season and Fincher the second … This was the first time BCU had five players in double figures since the 2017-18 season opener against Edward Waters.