Cooper records career night in Lady Wildcats loss
DeLAND, Fla. - Led by a career night from Kendra Cooper, the Lady Wildcats scrapped out a hard-fought first half to open the 2014-15 campaign at Stetson, holding a tight margin into the break. But the Hatters turned up the offensive intensity and ran away with the second half in a 91-61 season-opening loss for Bethune-Cookman.
The meeting of dueling guards started early in Friday night’s non-conference contest, as both Cooper and Stetson senior Jama Sharp’s numbers on the scoreboard began to climb throughout the opening period.
Cooper put up a career-high 25 points on 9-for-12 (75 percent) shooting for the Lady Wildcats, logging a career-best 5-for-8 from long range. The sophomore guard tallied a pair from the charity stripe, extending her free throw streak from last season to 14 consecutive makes.
Four players, Kayla Crawford, Terrenisha Hollis, Lyndsey Edwards and Kailyn Williams each scored six apiece. Hollis grabbed team highs of five rebounds and four steals. K. Williams tallied three blocks, bringing the redshirt sophomore’s career total to 99.
The Lady Wildcats have a quick turnaround, returning to action on Sunday at 3 p.m. for the 2014-15 home opener at Richard V. Moore Gymnasium against Florida Atlantic. The FAU Owls fell to UCF in Orlando on Friday in their season opener, 94-74.
For complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com
Early Second Half Run by NKU Dooms DSU in 76-55 Loss
AKRON, Ohio – Friday afternoon, in what was the first game of the Akron Classic, the Delaware State women’s basketball team (0-1) opened the 2014-15 regular season with a 76-55 loss to the Northern Kentucky Norse (1-0).
In the first half, both teams struggled from the field going a combined 17-of-56 (.303), including a 3-of-16 (.187) effort from beyond the arc. However, the Norse took advantage of DSU falling into early foul trouble with a 15-of-21 (.714) outing at the charity stripe as they led 35-24 at the break.
For the Lady Hornets, forward Tierra Hawkins led all scorers at intermission with 10 points (4-of-8), while last season’s leading scorer (21.3 ppg.) Raven Bankston struggled to find her groove on just 1-of-9 (.111) shooting and picking up two fouls.
The Norse, who was picked to finish third in the Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason coaches and media preseason polls, bounced back from a slow offensive start to shoot 58 percent (11-of-19) in the second half, headlined by Melody Doss dropping 15 out of her a team-high 18 points (7-of-10). NKU also won the battle on the boards, 46-35, with Faith Sanders pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Leading the way for the Lady Hornets was Hawkins pouring in a game-high 20 points (8-of-15) as one of three DSU players to finish the afternoon in double figures. Bankston, who was one of two Hornets to foul out, failed to shake off a slow start to go 2-of-14 (.142) to finish with 10 points.
On Saturday, the Columbia Blue & Red will wrap up the Akron Classic at 1 p.m. against Binghamton, in what will be the first meeting ever between the two squads.
For complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com
Lady Hawks drop opener to Hoyas
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Despite multiple comebacks against Georgetown, the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) Women’s Basketball Team were unable to complete the rally as they dropped their season opener to the Hoyas, 88-75.
Five Lady Hawks netted double-figures, led by Alexis Udoji notching a double-double, 10 points and 10 boards. Udoji also added six blocks in a losing effort.
For Georgetown, Dominique Vitalis and Dorothy Adomako each notched a double-double. Vitalis finished with a game-high 19 points and 10 rebounds while Adomako recorded 17 points and a game-high 14 boards in the victory.
This Sunday, the Lady Hawks head to Blacksburg, Va. to battle Virginia Tech. Tip-off is slated for noon.
For complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com
Lady Aggies come from behind to clip Navy
GREENSBORO, N.C. – It wasn’t pretty but the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team fought hard in a 52-47 come-from-behind win over Navy in its 2014-15 season-opener at Corbett Sports Center, Friday evening.
The Aggies (1-0) overcame a 28-22 halftime deficit and held Navy scoreless for nearly eight minutes in the second half to hand the Mids their first loss of the season.
A large portion of Navy’s lead in the first half was due to its performance behind the arc where it shot 7-for-14. In the second half, Haley Unger stretched the Mids’ lead to 35-26 with less than 16 minutes remaining with a layup from Hannah Fenske.
Navy entered its long scoring drought after Unger's basket which allowed A&T to use an 11-0 run initiated by a pair of free throws from redshirt junior Adriana Nazario and was capped off by a steal and fast break layup from redshirt junior Christina Carter to take the 37-35 edge over Navy at the 7:17 mark.
The Mids didn’t go away easily and regained the lead off an Aggie turnover as Unger hit a jumper to push them to a 45-44 edge with 3:12 left in the game. Senior Ariel Bursey answered with a timely 3-pointer just seconds later but Danielle Poblarp tied the game at 47 with a layup at the 2:07 mark.
From that point, the Aggies took advantage of the charity stripe and scored five unanswered points at the free throw line to close out the game.
For complete story, visit www.ncataggies.com
FAMU Women drop tough opener at Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The FAMU Women's Basketball team jumped out to the early lead on the Alabama Crimson Tide before the home team rallied for a 60-44 win in the regular season opener for both teams.
The Lady Rattlers bolted to a six-point lead with 18:57 left in the first half, before the Tide surged back to take a 30-18 halftime lead.
That late flurry by Alabama proved to be the difference, as FAMU hung tough in the final 20 minutes which the Tide barely prevailed on the scoreboard, 30-26.
FAMU (0-1) was led by Olivia Atilla with 14 points and six rebounds. Atilla nailed four of nine shots from three-point range Friday, followed by Taneka Rubin, who added 10 points and a team high nine rebounds.
Guard Khaderja Young had five points and six assists, while forward Kenya Dixon added five points, five rebounds and four steals.
Alabama was paced by Ashley Williams' 21 points and 11 rebounds, along with Hannah Cook and Meoshonti Knight with 10 points each. Knight also pulled down eight rebounds.
FAMU will open a three-game homestand Tuesday against Alabama State at the Lawson Center. Tipoff will be 7:00 p.m.
For complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com