Dec. 21, 2006

Final Stats

Daytona Beach, Fla. - Shooting just 33 percent from the field and missing numerous lay-ups doomed Bethune-Cookman College in a 59-50 loss to Winston-Salem State University in a women's basketball contest on Thursday evening inside Moore Gymnasium in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Though neither team shot the ball well, it might have been less turnovers and less missed opportunities that allowed WSSU to snatch the road win.

WSSU (4-10) came into the contest as the league's (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) newest member for the 2007-08 season, and having already defeated fellow MEAC member Norfolk State twice. But they can now add another notch in their pistol grip as they survived a horde of missed opportunities by B-CC (2-7) to escape with the win.

"We have to hit free throws and easy lay-ups," stated B-CC head coach Francis Simmons after the game. "We missed way too many easy baskets and made too many turnovers tonight. And even with all that, we still had a chance to win."

Leading for the first 16 minutes of the first half, Bethune-Cookman looked towards the post presence of Natasha Ferguson as a spark on the night. The Lady Rams of WSSU, however, seemed to have a spark of their own with fellow forward/center Shalonda Carter providing the defense and physical presence against B-CC's Ferguson.

B-CC led by as many as 10 points in the opening minutes, but WSSU stormed back behind a pair of three-point baskets from Kadina Baldwin and Latoya Armstrong to cut the B-CC lead down to just two (19-17) with eight minutes remaining in the half. Lavontay Johnson's lay-up moments later tied the game for the first time on the night.

Already leading by one with under a minute left, the Lady Rams used a jumper from Baldwin on the right side to extend the lead out to the halftime score of 31-28 in favor of WSSU.

In the second half, Ferguson continued to supply the scoring for the `Cats, and teammate Cassandra Calcagno jumped into the action as well.

Ferguson hit two free throws with 17:19 left in the contest to bring the score to 31-30 as both teams opened the half scoreless for the first two-and-a-half minutes. But that's as close as the `Cats would get as WSSU would never relinquish the lead.

Armstrong's three-pointer with 15:36 showing on the clock advanced the Lady Rams lead out to eight (38-30), capping off a 7-0 run started by Keoshia Worthy's backdoor lay-up. During that run for WSSU, the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman turned the ball over on four consecutive trips ... including a blown chance at an easy wide-open lay-up pass from Sabrina Boykin to Calcagno.

WSSU pushed the lead out to as many as 10 in the second half following two free throws by Baldwin with under a minute remaining in the contest. Traci Fountain's three-pointer late in the game only pulled the lead down to less than a double-digit loss as B-CC dropped it's third straight game on the year.

The Lady Rams were led on the night by Shalonda Carter and her 13-point, 11-rebound performance. Armstrong had a team-high 14 points on the night, while Baldwin pitched in 11 points of her own. Baldwin also posted a game-high seven assists.

As for B-CC, the `Cats were led by Ferguson with an all-around performance of 17 points, six rebounds and three assists. Calcagno posted her first double-double performance of the year with 11 points and a season-high 10 rebounds. Tristan McCray, the all-everywhere Wildcat for B-CC, was very aggressive with a team-high 11 rebounds on the night.

B-CC will now have some time off before traveling to Coppin State for their second MEAC contest of the 2006-07 campaign, and second straight MEAC road game, on Jan. 3, 2007.