DeLAND, Fla. – For the third consecutive season, Bethune-Cookman Women's Basketball takes the short drive over to DeLand, Florida, set to compete in the Hatter Classic housed inside Insight Credit Union Arena at Edmunds Center on the campus of Stetson University. The Wildcats will face two opponents across two days, beginning with Bradley (Dec. 19), and concluding with South Alabama (Dec. 20).
 

What: Game Ten
Who: Bethune-Cookman (2-7) vs. Bradley Braves (5-4)
When: Thursday, Dec. 19, at 1:30 p.m.
Where: DeLand, Fla. – Insight Credit Union Arena at Edmunds Center (5,000)
Live Stats: Click Here
Tickets: Purchase Tickets Online
 
What: Game Eleven
Who: Bethune-Cookman vs. South Alabama Jaguars
When: Friday, Dec. 20, at 1:30 p.m.
Where: DeLand, Fla. – Insight Credit Union Arena at Edmunds Center (5,000)
Live Stats: Click Here
Tickets: Purchase Tickets Online
 
IN THE RANKINGS
▪ Bethune-Cookman is not ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25
▪ Bradley is not ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25
▪ South Alabama is not ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25
 

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.
 

▪ For the Wildcats, 12 of their first 15 games – extending well into the new 2025 calendar year, will occur on the road away from the friendly confines of Richard V. Moore Gymnasium. Since a November 30 matchup at home to Mercer, B-CU will play eight consecutive games on the road, including a pair of neutral site games in nearby DeLand for the Hatter Classic hosted by Stetson.
▪ With 14 points and 12 rebounds against Cleveland State, Asianae Nicholson collected her fourth double-double of the season for the Wildcats. This season, she tops the Cats with 106 points (11.8 ppg), which is more than her previous two seasons at Alabama A&M combined. At AAMU, she scored just 65 points altogether, with 52 of those coming in 2023-24.
▪ Cassandra Hawthorne, a 5-foot-11 redshirt senior guard from Hartford, Connecticut, saw action in her first game for the Wildcats since transferring in from Coppin State, seeing 11 minutes of time away to Cleveland State. Against Cleveland State, she scored her first points since arriving in Daytona Beach, as she was forced to sit the first part of the season due to transfer rules and policies.
▪ Under Head Coach Janell Crayton Del Rosario, Bethune-Cookman has a record of 3-3 in games played at a neutral site which includes the SWAC Tournament in 2022-23.
▪ Shomari Phillips has connected on a team-leading 12 three-pointers, and has registered at least one in six of her last seven games, respectfully.
▪ The Wildcats have gotten to the free throw line for 184 attempts on the year, while opponents have managed just 150, with B-CU shooting just 61.4 percent from the charity stripe across the season.
▪ Asianae Nicholson is eighth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) in scoring with an average of 11.8 ppg. Kayla White is 19th in the league at 9.6 ppg.
▪ Nicholson is also atop the SWAC in rebounding (9.8 rpg), while Kayla Clark sits eighth (6.6 rpg).
 

BCU VS. BRADLEY SERIES
▪ Bethune-Cookman leads the series against Bradley, 1-0.
▪ The only meeting between the two sides previously occurred last season (Nov. 23, 2023) with B-CU claiming a 64-57 win over the Braves in Atlanta, Georgia during the Georgia State Classic.
 
SCOUTING BRADLEY
▪ Bradley arrives to DeLand, Florida on the heels of consecutive losses against Big Ten opponents Illinois (L, 70-52) and Northwestern (L, 67-57), respectively.
▪ The Braves last victory was a 75-57 decision over Chicago State on the road.
▪ Bradley is scoring 61.2 ppg as a team, while opponents are averaging just 57 ppg against the Braves.
▪ Opponents are shooting just 19.6 percent against Bradley from three-point territory.
▪ Soleil Barnes leads the team with an average of 15.1 ppg, followed distantly by Kaylen Nelson (8.9 ppg), as Barnes has poured in 136 points throughout the season. Barnes has connected on 22 three-pointers and is 96 percent from the charity stripe.
▪ Amy O'Hara is shooting at a team-high 51.3 percent from the field while sitting tied for second in rebounds (44).
▪ Ellie McDermid tops the Braves in rebounding with an average of 6.0 per game. Barnes and O'Hara each average 4.9 rpg.
▪ Barnes has also handed out a team-high 31 assists, followed closely by Ruba Abo Hashesh with 23 assists.
 
BCU VS. SOUTH ALABAMA SERIES
▪ This will be the first-ever meeting between Bethune-Cookman and South Alabama in women's basketball.
 
SCOUTING SOUTH ALABAMA
▪ The Jaguars of South Alabama hold a record of 3-6 overall on the season after losing three of their last four games before traveling to DeLand.
▪ USA holds wins against Delta State, New Orleans and Faulkner (Ala.), respectively.
▪ The Jaguars are averaging 61.7 points per game and are allowing 68.8 ppg in return.
▪ As a team, South Alabama shoots 38.4 percent from the field, as well as a 29.8 percent touch from beyond the arc.
▪ The top scorer for the team is Amyria Walker (10.4 ppg), while Michiyah Simmons and Rachel Leggett are tied for second with an average of 9.0 points per contest each, respectfully.
▪ Jordan Rosier tops the squad in three-point shooting with 19 baskets from long range. Daniela Gonzalez also has double-digit three-pointers with 13.
▪ Rebounds are supplied by Gonzalez as well, leading the bunch with 7.7 per game.
 

RECAPPING B-CU'S LAST GAME (at Cleveland State)
In her return home to the Cleveland, Ohio area, Bethune-Cookman junior forward Asianae Nicholson picked up her fourth double-double of the season while the Wildcats fell 78-59 to Cleveland State inside Woodling Gymnasium.
 
Bethune-Cookman shot 50 percent from three-point range in the opening quarter performing a 3-for-6 shooting touch from beyond the arc. After falling behind, 7-2 just over two minutes into the game, the Wildcats answered on the strength of a 10-2 run to claim a 12-9 advantage with 4:35 remaining in the quarter. Shomari Phillips opened and closed the run for the Cats with bookend three-pointers, coupled with a layup from center Kayla Clark. Freshman Mya Johnson's successful layup made it 14-13 in favor of the Wildcats before Cleveland State responded with a 7-3 run of its own as Mya Moore's layup put the Vikings back on the positive end, 15-14. Mickayla Perdue scored the final six points of the period for the Vikings to give the hosts a 20-17 edge at the close of the period.
 
CSU's Kali Howard gave her side its largest lead of the opening half at 22-17 with 7:59 remaining. Asianae Nicholson kicked off a 9-0 B-CU run with a layup off the pass of junior guard Daimoni Dorsey. Fellow Cleveland native and senior Kayla White –making her first return back to Ohio as a collegiate student-athlete, laid a pass into Dorsey for a jumper at the top of the key before Nicholson stepped to the line to connect on 1 of 2 and tie the game at 22-22. Janessa Kelley added a basket to put the Cats back on top, while Phillips closed the run with a spinning layup and a 26-22 lead with 4:26 left. Karianna Woods hit a pair of free throws to put the visitors up 28-26, but the Vikings got baskets from Perdue and Sara Guerreiro to close the half and give CSU a 34-30 lead at the break.
 
The free throw line was the key to CSU stretching the lead in the third quarter as the Vikings finished 7 of 9 at the line for the stanza. In all, the Vikings outscored the Cats 21-12 in order to burst out to a double-digit lead at 55-42 at the end of the period. CSU went on a 15-5 run to open the quarter beginning with Guerreiro's putback layup, as well as one of the team's leading three-point specialists in Destiny Leo, as she was fouled by Johnson while attempting a corner three. She connected on all three attempts, and teammate Jordan Reisma – finishing 11 of 13 from the field and shooting more than 70 percent from the field on the season, collected the rebound on one end and finished it on the other for a 46-35 Vikings lead. Reisma added another basket moments later to extend the lead, 49-35. Jordan Brooks, a freshman point guard from Atlanta, Georgia, recorded her fifth three-pointer of the season just a minute before the close of the quarter. But it was a Macey Fegan layup off the assist of Guerreiro stopping a potential B-CU run. Nicholson stole a Perdue pass and raced to the basket for a buzzer-beating layup.
 
CSU was sparked by a career-high 25 points from Reisma, while teammate Perdue added 22 points and four assists. Fegan had 11 points to finish in double figures as well, also passing out a game-high five assists. B-CU was led in scoring by Nicholson with 14 points, as she also pulled down 12 rebounds (six offensive) to go along with two steals and two assists. Kayla Clark had 10 points and three assists.
 

After facing South Alabama on December 20, Bethune-Cookman continues its eight-game road swing with a visit to Campbell in Buies Creek, North Carolina closing out the 2024 calendar year Monday, Dec. 30, at 2 p.m.
 
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