Dec. 1, 2008

Final Stats

DURHAM, N.C. - The Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman outlasted a pesky last minute rally by the Lady Eagles of North Carolina Central University, 62-52, Monday night in McLendon-McDougald Gym.

NCCU (0-8) was down as much as 13 with 5:23 remaining in the second half, but with a scrappy defense that caused B-CU (4-1) to miss jumpers and lay-ups, the Lady Eagles cut the deficit to three 59-56, with 33 seconds remaining in the game.

The Lady Eagles used a half court defense to slow down the Wildcats, and connected on key lay-ups and free-throws. A foul by Latoya Bennett took the Wildcats to the free-throw line to seal the victory.

Keturah Newkirk started the second half with a three-pointer to give the Wildcats a 39-31 lead. Newkirk was on fire for the Wildcats, as she connected on 6 of 9 three-pointers for a team-high of 18 points.

With 17:00 remaining in the second half, a jumper by Jori Nwachukwu, cut the Wildcat lead to 34-31. From there the Wildcats went on a 5-0 run. Newkirk lifted the Wildcats again on a three-pointer from the corner to go up nine, 42-33.

In the first half, the Lady Eagles led 4-3 with 17:42 remaining, however two three-pointers by the Wildcats lifted B-CU on a 6-0 scoring run.

Both teams traded baskets until B-CU Sarah Bolden's two 15-foot jumpers, extended the lead to nine. NCCU went into halftime down 23-32.

NCCU was led by Nwachukwu with 22 points and nine rebounds. Danielle DeBerry had a season-high of 13 points.

Up next, the Lady Eagles will participate in the Air Force Invitational, in Colorado Springs, CO.,December 5-6.