TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Head Coach Janell Crayton and Bethune-Cookman Women's Basketball are seeking their first winning regular season record since 2019-20 this weekend when the Wildcats travel to in-state foe Florida A&M to conclude the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) regular season. For Crayton, now in her third year at the helm in Daytona Beach, she has helped BCU up its wins totals by at least four wins every season since her arrival.
 
And for Bethune-Cookman, if the Wildcats defeat FAMU, then then they are headed to next week's SWAC Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. The Wildcats could go as either the No. 6, No. 7 or No. 8 seed depending on other results from Saturday's games. However, it is all dependent on a BCU victory.
 
What: Game Thirty-One
Who: Bethune-Cookman (15-15, 6-11) at Florida A&M (8-20, 7-10)
When: Saturday, March 9, at 2 p.m. ET
Where: Tallahassee, Fla. – Al Lawson Center (9,639)
 
Watch: Rattlers+
Listen: CatEye Network
Live Stats: Click Here
 
IN THE RANKINGS
▪ Bethune-Cookman is not ranked in this week's Associated Press Top 25
▪ Florida A&M 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
▪ Since arriving in Daytona Beach prior to the beginning of the 2021-22 campaign, Head Coach Janell Crayton has improved BCU's wins total each year. She finished 6-21 (2021-22), 11-18 (2022-23) and enters the weekend 15-15 (2023-24) and seeking the first winning season at the helm.
▪ For BCU, the scenario is simple – "win and in" for the SWAC Women's Basketball Tournament. However, if the Cats lose, then there is no scenario where BCU could advance to the tournament as both Prairie View A&M and Alcorn would have a better record than the Wildcats – with Alcorn also holding the head-to-head tiebreak against the Cats if that, in fact, becomes reality with an Alcorn loss.
▪ Despite dropping six of the last seven games, Bethune-Cookman has held a lead in every one of those contests, including away to regular season champion Jackson State entering the fourth quarter. Included in the recent losses is a heartbreaking 65-59 overtime setback away to Southern University. All this coinciding with a number of injuries and illnesses that have forced several lineup changes throughout the last six weeks.
▪ Junior forward Chanelle McDonald has emerged huge for the Wildcats this season, scoring a team-high 292 points (9.7 per game) and turning in 143 rebounds (4.8 per game). The Lake Wales, Florida native is also shooting 47.9 percent from the floor over the year, adding a 75.6 percent touch from the foul line as well.
▪ Now in her third year with the program, Kayla White has played in all 30 games for the Maroon and Gold. She is averaging 8.1 points per game to go along with her team second-most 61 assists and 60 steals. The Cleveland native is also firing at 36.7 percent from the field.
▪ Although missing seven games due to injury, junior center Kayla Clark leads the Wildcats in rebounds with 203 (8.8 per game). She has nine double-figure rebounding games on the year, adding a team-best six (6) double-doubles.
▪ In the last three games, sophomore point guard D'Shantae Edwards has connected on three (3) three-point baskets, with the Dallastown, Pennsylvania product also stepping to the charity stripe for a team-most 147 attempts on the season, serving as one of the most fouled players in the SWAC. She is connecting on 59.2 percent of her shots from the foul line.
▪ Graduate student Chanel Wilson has missed eight games this season with injury, but the All-SWAC guard from Powder Springs, Indiana is still pouring in 11.4 points per game and has a team-high 71 assists and 31 steals.
 
LAST TIME OUT
All 11 participating players scored for Grambling State as the Tigers defeated visiting Bethune-Cookman by a score of 64-54 in what was a crucial Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Women's Basketball contest for the Wildcats inside FCH Assembly Center.
 
Despite shooting 38.5 percent from the field in the opening half, Bethune-Cookman (15-15, 6-11 SWAC) trailed 27-24 at the break. In the third period, Camerah Langston's layup early-on brought the Wildcats to within 27-26.
 
However, Grambling State (19-8, 13-3 SWAC) went on a 7-0 run – thanks in part to the combination of Jazmyne Jackson and Amanda Blake, to up its lead at 34-26 following a Blake free throw. BCU then embarked upon an 8-0 scoring run of its own that saw Daimoni Dorsey's three-pointer tie the ball game at 34-all with 6:06 remaining in the quarter. In the run for the Maroon and Gold, point guard D'Shantae Edwards connected on just her third three-pointer of the year while also putting in a driving layup.
 
The host Tigers would limit Bethune-Cookman to just four points over the last six minutes of the quarter, closing on a 12-4 run to take a 46-38 lead into the final period. Jackson and Blake would combine for 12 of the Tigers' 19 points in the period, as teammate Kahia Warmsley finished 2-for-2 from the floor in the period recording four points of her own.
 
In the fourth quarter, GSU established its first double-digit lead of the contest when Brenda McKinney put a basket in off the glass to give the Tigers a 48-38 advantage. Moments later after BCU's Chanelle McDonald converted one of two at the foul line, Anijah Grant connected on two shots from the charity stripe to put the Tigers back up by double figures, 50-39. Over the course of the final 10 minutes, BCU was limited to just 4 of 19 shooting, but did manage to toe the foul line 11 times. The Cats would shoot 11 of their 22 free throws on the night in the fourth quarter alone.
 
The lead would change hands three times in the opening period as the visitors shot 45.5 percent from the floor, but failed to connect on its three long range efforts. In fact, neither team found its stroke from three-point territory all night, with BCU finishing just 2 of 14, and the Tigers shooting 2-for-15 in the game. BCU's Kayla White took a pass from Grambling's Jordyn Carter and raced to the basket for the 16-15 lead just nine seconds into the second quarter. Nevertheless, it would be the last lead of the night for the Wildcats.
 
For Grambling State, the Tigers were led on the night by 12 points from Jackson and 11 from Tiana Gardner. Grant ended with a game-high 13 rebounds. Warmsley led all players with four assists. BCU was paced in scoring with a game-high 16-point outburst from White, who has now reached double figures scoring in each of her last three contests. Edwards added 11 points. And it was junior center Kayla Clark supplying seven points and nine rebounds.
 
BCU VS. FLORIDA A&M SERIES
▪ In a series that dates back to 1977, Florida A&M leads the all-time series between the two schools, 54-42.
▪ However, Bethune-Cookman comes to Tallahassee having won the last four consecutive in the series, including an 80-76 victory back on January 6 in Moore Gym.
▪ In fact, BCU has won 13 of the last 14 outings between the in-state opponents, with the lone setback being a 70-68 decision at home on January 3, 2022. The average margin of victory for BCU in that span has been 15.5 points.
▪ Since 2013, BCU has lost just four times to the Rattlers, after having dropped 15-straight to FAMU from 2006-13.
▪ BCU began the series back in 1977 with three consecutive wins.
 
SCOUTING FLORIDA A&M
▪ Florida A&M comes into the weekend having lost five of its last six games, including three on the spin away to Southern, at Grambling State and at home to Alabama A&M, respectively.
▪ The Rattlers have a record of 6-5 at Al Lawson Center this season.
▪ After beginning the year 1-11, FAMU has rolled off seven conference wins to put themselves in contention for a spot in the upcoming SWAC Women's Basketball Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama.
▪ The Rattlers are giving up an average of 70.4 points per game while also scoring 59.5 points themselves.
▪ The team is shooting at a 37.3 percent clip from the floor, adding a 29.6 percent touch from three-point territory.
▪ There is probably no hotter player right now in the SWAC other than FAMU's Ahriahna Grizzle, as the guard is averaging 18.3 points per game and has a team-leading 79 assists under her belt.
▪ Grizzle is connecting on 42.2 percent of her shots from the field, while also firing at a 37.1 percent clip from three-point range for the Rattlers. She owns a team-leading 36 three-point baskets, followed closely by Olivia Delancy with 31.
▪ Four different Rattlers have pulled down 100 or better rebounds over the course of the season, led primarily by the duo of Nashani Gilbert (143) and Ivet Subirats (115).
 
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