NORFOLK, Va. – Angel Golden scored a game-high 26 points for the second consecutive day game to send Bethune-Cookman to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament championship game with a 58-47 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore Friday at the Scope.
The Lady Wildcats (20-10) will meet Norfolk State, who stunned top-seeded North Carolina A&T 60-43 in the other semifinal, at 4 p.m. It's BCU's second title game appearance in the past three years.
Golden scored 10 of her points in the fourth quarter, starting with the rare four-point play that gave BCU a 41-37 lead as well as the senior from Tampa her 29th career 20-point game. BCU is now 28-1 when she scores 20 or more.
Defensively, BCU held the Hawks MDES (17-14) to just 3-21 shooting in the final quarter, pulling away from a 44-43 run with a 6-0 that made it 50-43 on an
Armani Walker lay-up with 4:34 left.
BCU closed the game with an 8-2 run.
Golden hit a three-pointer that tied the game at 37 entering the fourth and an earlier one at the halftime horn to give BCU a 24-21 lead at the break.
The Wildcats held firm defensively in a half that saw six ties and five lead changes. No team led by more than four points in the first two quarters. MDES was just 9-31 from the floor and only 2-17 from three. Bairesha Gill-Miles' eight rebounds led a 23-16 Hawks advantage in rebounding through the first two quarters.
Chasimmie Brown scored 11 points and had seven rebounds for BCU, while
Amaya Scott had seven points and eight rebounds.
NOTES: BCU clinched its third consecutive 20-win season, a program and university first ... Golden now has 83 career playing victories, the most for any Bethune-Cookman player male or female ... Brown now has 80 career wins ... Golden has scored 55 against the Hawks in the last two MEAC meetings ... MDES's 47 matched Savannah State for the lowest by a MEAC opponent; BCU held Edward Waters to 46 on opening night ...Golden was a season-best 57.1 percent (8-14) from the field...BCU has held opponents under 50 in five of the last six victories.
