(Daytona Beach, Fla.) – Facing an uphill climb, the Delaware State women's basketball team (6-17, 1-10 MEAC) failed to find its groove Saturday afternoon on the road against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (9-16, 6-7 MEAC) to fall 80-51.
With this loss, the Lady Hornets dropped their fourth in a row, while B-CU bounced back from a 66-35 loss at North Carolina A&T earlier in the week.
With the score knotted at nine early in the opening half, the Wildcats used a 13-2 run to take their first double digit lead of the game, capped off by a Chastity Rene Taylor three. As a result, head coach Tamika Louis called a 30-second timeout to stop the bleeding.
Unfortunately for Delaware State, the Lady Wildcats continued their strong push throughout the stanza to outscore the Hornets 24-15 and took a 46-26 lead into the locker room.
At the break, Bethune-Cookman shot 49 percent (16-of-33) from the field, as Taylor tallied 10 points (3-of-7) and five rebounds to lead the way. From beyond the arc, the Lady Wildcats drained 7-of-18 (.389), spearheaded by guard Kendra Cooper going 3-for-6 (.500). On the glass, the undersized Hornets managed just 11 rebounds, compared to B-CU's 26.
For DSU, guard Raven Bankston totaled 10 points (3-of-8) as the only Hornet to score in double figures, whereas its third leading scorer Deanna Harmon (12.0 ppg) struggled on just 1-of-7 (.142) shooting from the field. She did manage to hit all four free throw attempts to total six points.
In the second half, Delaware State failed to generate enough energy on the offensive end after intermission, while the Wildcats took their largest lead of the game, 63-32, after a Deja Gibson jumper at the 11:19 mark.
The rest of the way, DSU never got within 20 as the Wildcats held on for the big win.
When the final buzzer sounded, five Wildcats scored in double figures, led by guard Taylor Houston's game-high 22 points (7-of-10). Houston also pulled down eight rebounds and hit all five free throw attempts, whereas Taylor finished with 12 points (4-of-10) and a game-high nine assists.
Collectively, the Wildcats shot 46 percent (27-of-59) from the field and went 11-of-26 (.423) from long distance, with Cooper draining a game-high four to finish with 16 points. Rebounding wise, B-CU totaled 41 to DSU's 30.
The Lady Hornets, meanwhile, had three players score in double figures with Bankston finishing with 12 points (4-of-14), snapping a five-game streak of scoring 20 points or more. Off the bench, guard N'Kayah Kersey added 11 points (3-of-9), with nine coming from long distance. As a unit, Delaware State was held to just 29 percent (15-of-51) shooting.
Coming up, the Lady Hornets will look to get back on track on the road against Florida A&M Monday night (6 p.m.).
