Williams and Golden Push Bethune-Cookman Past SCSU In MEAC Opener

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Emily Williams scored a career-high 25 points as Bethune-Cookman opened Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference play with a 68-50 victory over South Carolina State Wednesday evening in Historic Moore Gym.

Angel Golden added 19 points, 14 in the first quarter as she and Williams combined to hit seven of eight three-pointers as the Lady Wildcats (9-4 overall, 1-0 MEAC) jumped out to an early 27-8 lead.

South Carolina State (5-8,0-1) closed to 33-26 on two Bryesha Blair free throws with 2:04 remaining in the half, but B-CU closed the half on a 7-2 run and held the Bulldogs to seven third-quarter points to pull away.

Ashanti Hunt had 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Lady Wildcats, who now have won 11 consecutive regular season conference games dating back to last season.

Williams, a senior, was 7-9 from three-point range while also contributing seven assists and seven rebounds.

Kemoni Jenkins led South Carolina State with 14.

BOX SCORE

HEAD COACH VANESSA BLAIR-LEWIS
"I like the way we came out as a team. Angel and Emily set us on pace. Both have put the work in and they were able to knock down shots."

"We knew they [SCSU] are a third-quarter team. We worked on the third quarter.

EMILY WILLIAMS
"It seemed like SCSU wanted to clog the paint and shut down our bigs. It left us wide open."

ASHANTI HUNT
"This was very important that we start conference play strong."

NOTES: B-CU's 13 three-pointers matched opening night against Edward Waters for the season-high … Williams' seven three-pointer were a career high and the most for a B-CU player this season … The Lady Wildcats have made a three-pointer in 135 consecutive games … South Carolina State was just 2-12 from the field in the third quarter.

BETHUNE-COOKMAN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS