TAMPA – Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Janell Crayton Del Rosario, Bethune-Cookman Women's Basketball travels to South Florida on Monday, Nov. 4, at 6 p.m., as the Wildcats visit the Bulls at the Yuengling Center, for the first time since 2018. Since 2001, this will be the sixth meeting between the two sides in the month of November, and the first time the teams have opened the season against one another since 2007.
 
What: Game One
Who: Bethune-Cookman (0-0 at South Florida (0-0)
When: Monday, Nov. 4, 2024, at 6 p.m.
Where: Tampa, Fla. – Yuengling Center (10,500)
 
Watch: ESPN+
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Attend: Online Ticket Sales
Live Stats: Click Here
 
IN THE RANKINGS
▪ Bethune-Cookman is not ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25
▪ South Florida is not ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
Keep up with everything Bethune-Cookman Women's Basketball this season by following the Wildcats social media platforms. You can follow @BCU_WBB on Instagram and @BCUWBB on X/Twitter.
 
NEWS & NOTES
▪ Bethune-Cookman opens the 2024-25 season on the road in the state of Florida for the fifth consecutive year. The Cats have played away to UCF, Florida State, Miami and Florida International during that time, respectively.
▪ The Wildcats have not won a season opener since defeating Edward Waters 79-46 in 2019. The last Division I season opening win for the Wildcats came courtesy a 68-56 decision from North Florida in 2008.
▪ Seniors Kayla Clark and Chanelle McDonald were each voted to the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Preseason Team.
▪ Clark, 6-foot-3 center from Miami, finished second on the team and 22nd in the league in scoring, pouring in 234 points (9.8 ppg) during the 2023-24 campaign.
▪ McDonald, 6-foot-2 forward from Lake Wales, Florida, finished second on the team and 17th in the league in rebounding, pulling down 146 total rebounds (4.7 rpg), as well as scoring 296 points (9.5 ppg).
▪ Bethune-Cookman was tabbed to finish eighth in the preseason poll as voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
▪ The Cats added eight newcomers to the roster for this season – five freshmen and three transfers. Of the transfers, Cassandra Hawthorne (Coppin State), Asianae Nicholson (Alabama A&M) and Shomari Phillips (Texas Southern) arrive from Division I programs.
▪ Erika Harris and Ronni Williams were added to the staff during the offseason with the departure of Stephan Walton and Kianna Funderburk. Walton left to become an assistant at Niagara.
▪ Kayla White, a junior from Cleveland, Ohio, played all 31 games last year for the Maroon and Gold, producing 8.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. With B-CU saddled with injuries and illness, she played 39 minutes in back-to-back games away to Alabama State and Alabama A&M.
▪ Sophomore guard Karianna Woods returns to the lineup after registering 55 assists last year.
 
BCU VS. USF SERIES
▪ South Florida has won the previous nine meetings in the series.
▪ The Bulls have a 10-2 record all-time against Bethune-Cookman.
▪ The last victory for B-CU in the series came in back-to-back fashion, with both games occurring in the 1982-83 season as part of a home-and-home agreement.
▪ B-CU claimed a 69-66 win in Daytona Beach on Jan. 22, 1983, while also registering a 79-70 victory in the return matchup on Feb. 10, 1983, in Tampa.
▪ The last meeting between the two sides was an 88-39 win for USF on Nov. 18, 2018, in Tampa.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
▪ South Florida returns a host of players from last season, including three starters – Romi Levy, Vittoria Blasigh and Carla Brito.
▪ The Bulls added a total of seven newcomers to their roster from last year, including transfers Mama Dembele (Missouri) and Fatou Diakite (Charlotte).
▪ For South Florida, the 2024-25 campaign marks the 25th year Head Coach Jose Fernandez will be walking the sidelines. Currently, he is one of six active head coaches to have served at a single Division I program for 25 years or more. He has a career record of 462-306 entering the new campaign.
▪ USF was predicted to finish atop the American Athletic Conference (AAC) with 135 points in the preseason poll. North Texas and Rice each tied for second in that list.
▪ Sammie Puisis comes into the season with a team-high 43 double-digit scoring games, which includes her time previously at Florida State.
 
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST THE BULLS
Kiana Williams scored 16 points in Bethune-Cookman's 88-39 loss to No. 21 USF Thursday night in the Yuengling Center. The freshman also had five rebounds as the Wildcats fell to 2-1. USF, which beat Ohio State by 24 in its previous contest in Columbus, improved to 3-0.

USF used a 23-9 second quarter to pull away from a competitive 17-11 first quarter, then held BCU to 3-18 shooting in the third. Kitiha Laksa and Laura Ferreira each scored 19 to lead the Bulls.
 
Playing in her hometown, B-CU senior Angel Golden finished with nine points.
 
UP NEXT
Bethune-Cookman is set to host Fort Lauderdale for the Wildcats home opener at Richard V. Moore Gymnasium on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m.
 
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