BATON ROUGE, La. – Bethune-Cookman Women's Basketball completes the 2023-24 regular season portion of its schedule on the road over the next two weeks, as the upcoming weekend slate sees the Wildcats travel to Louisiana to face off against Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponents Southern (La.) and Grambling State.
 
What: Game Twenty-Nine
Who: Bethune-Cookman (15-13, 6-9) at Southern University (11-14, 9-5)
When: Saturday, March 2, at 1 p.m. ET
Where: Baton Rouge, La. – F.G. Clark Activity Center (7,500)
 
Watch: HBCU Go
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What: Game Thirty
Who: Bethune-Cookman at Grambling State
When: Monday, March 4, at 6:30 p.m. ET
Where: Grambling La. – Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center (7,600)
 
IN THE RANKINGS
▪ Bethune-Cookman is not ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25
▪ Southern is not ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25
▪ Grambling State 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 Twitter.
 
NEWS & NOTES
▪ In order to earn a spot in the SWAC Women's Basketball Tournament, Bethune-Cookman would need to win its final three games – and get help from Alcorn State with a loss in one of the Braves' last four remaining contests, as Alcorn owns the head-to-head tie decider against the Wildcats.
▪ Chanel Wilson returned to the BCU lineup last weekend, marking her first appearance for the Maroon and Gold since January 22 (at Arkansas-Pine Bluff). In her first game back versus Alabama A&M, Wilson poured in 14 points and connected on three (3) three-point field goals.
▪ Last weekend, BCU finished the home portion of the 2023-24 regular season schedule with a 9-5 overall record, including victory in all five nonconference games.
▪ Kayla Clark now has six double-doubles for the season, including back-to-back games entering the weekend. She posted 12 points and 12 rebounds against Alabama State, following two nights later with 13 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Alabama A&M.
▪ Junior forward Chanelle McDonald leads the Cats with 98 made field goals, and shoots at a team-high 49.7 percent clip from the floor.
▪ Stepping into a key role for the Cats this season, guard Kayla White has amassed double-figures scoring eight of her last 10 games played, including 15 in her last outing against Alabama A&M – adding seven rebounds and three assists in the process.
▪ In conference play, BCU has made almost as many free throws as opponents have attempted, as the Cats are connecting on 65.7 percent of their shots from the charity stripe in the SWAC. BCU has made 257 free throws against SWAC teams, while opponents have taken just 278 attempts.
▪ D'Shantae Edwards, a sophomore point guard, serves as one of the most fouled players in the SWAC, getting to the line for a team-high 141 attempts (90 in league play). She is also second on the team with 48 assists while leading the squad with 60 steals.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats snapped a four-game skid behind a smothering defensive effort as they got the better of Alabama State, 84-43, Monday night at Moore Gymnasium.
 
Bethune-Cookman (15-13, 6-9 SWAC) enjoyed a hot start from the floor in the first, cashing in on five of their first nine shots on the way to a 10-5 lead at the first media timeout. Alabama State (3-23, 3-12 SWAC). Both offenses stalled a bit after the stoppage, but the Wildcats maintained the five-point advantage at the end of the quarter. 

A Daimoni Dorsey bucket on a great transition feed from D'Shantae Edwards put the Cats up, 20-10 midway through the second quarter. The Wildcats maintained that lead into the half as Kayla Clark's tough paint basket made it 31-20 heading into the break. 

A 9-2 B-CU run out of the half forced a Hornets timeout trailing 39-22. 

The Wildcats defense continued to get the better of Alabama State as the lead further increased to 57-27 after a Kayla White driving layup. BCU doubled up the Hornets offensively at the end of the third thanks to an O'Mariyah Tucker layup to increase the gargantuan lead to 63-31.

The Wildcats put things in cruise control from there, again rattling off a 11-0 run without a Hornets basket on the way to a 74-31 lead. Chanel Wilson dribbled out the clock as the Wildcats capped off the 84-43 victory.
 
BCU VS. SOUTHERN SERIES
▪ Bethune-Cookman trails the all-time series against Southern, with the Jaguars winning eight of the last 10 meetings in the series. In all, Southern leads, 8-3.
▪ BCU won the first two meetings in the series that dates back to Jan. 15, 1983, in a game played in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
▪ However, Southern has won the last five meetings consecutively, including a hard-fought 71-66 setback for the Cats at home earlier this season.
▪ BCU's last win over the Jaguars came via 68-56 result in Daytona Beach on Dec. 13, 2017.
▪ Last season, BCU fell 65-63 in a heartbreaker in Baton Rouge.
 
SCOUTING SOUTHERN
▪ Southern University arrives to the weekend in fourth place of the league standings, as the Jaguars have won six of their last eight games.
▪ The Jaguars are averaging 61.2 points per game as a team, while opponents are averaging 63.2 points, respectfully.
▪ Southern is averaging 10.3 steals per game as a team, adding 2.5 blocks per game in a defensive effort.
▪ The points for the Jaguars are supplied by Aleighyah Fontenot with 218 (9.1 per game), as she is also shooting at 36 percent from the field – and a 34.3 percent touch from three-point territory.
▪ Tionna Lidge leads the team in rebounding, as she has accumulated 91 boards (3.8 per game), followed closely by Kyanna Morgan with 84 rebounds (3.5 per game).
▪ It's Taylor Williams owning a 49.4 percent shooting mark from the field overall for the Jaguars, joined by Lidge at a 48.9 percent clip across the season.
▪ Three Jaguars have 30 or more steals for the season – Chloe Fleming (39), Fontenot (33) and Williams (30).
 
BCU VS. GRAMBLING STATE SERIES
▪ Bethune-Cookman trails the all-time series against Grambling State by a 5-2 margin in a series that dates back to Dec. 15, 2003.
▪ The Wildcats won the very first meeting between the two teams, 80-52 at Moore Gym.
▪ In Louisiana, BCU is 1-2 all-time in the series, having won the last meeting in Grambling by a 63-46 count last season.
▪ Grambling enters the weekend having won five of the last six meetings, including a 63-62 contest earlier this season at Moore Gym.
 
SCOUTING GRAMBLING STATE
▪ Prior to taking on Florida A&M on Saturday afternoon, Grambling State has won its last six contests consecutively. GSU is 17-8 overall on the year and sits second in the league with an 11-3 mark.
▪ The Tigers hold a 10-2 record at home inside the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center – those two losses coming to Texas Southern and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, respectively.
▪ Grambling is averaging 73.6 points per contest to go along with a 40.1 percent shooting touch as a team from the field. At the foul line, the Tigers hit 68 percent of their shots.
▪ The Tigers are forcing opponents into an average of 23.8 turnovers per game, as the team also averages 12.4 steals per contest.
▪ The leading scorers for the Tigers across the campaign have been DeMya Young (233 points) and Anijah Grant (222 points). Young averages 9.7 points per contest adding to Grant's 8.9 points per contest average.
▪ Young is the squad's top three-point shooter with 41 made and connecting on 33.6 percent of her shots from beyond the arc.
▪ Meanwhile, Grant is GSU's top rebounder with 182 under her belt, averaging 7.3 boards per game – and owning a team-best 85 off the offensive glass.
▪ The point guard duties are handled by Douthshine Prien with a team-high 93 assists, followed aways back by Jordyn Carter with 57 assists.
 
UP NEXT
Bethune-Cookman concludes the regular season with a visit to in-state SWAC foe Florida A&M on Saturday, March 9, at 2 p.m. The SWAC Tournament is set to take place March 13-16 at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
 
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