Daytona Beach, Fla. ? Freshman guard Brittany Carannante (Clearwater, Fla.) and senior center Ayesha Barkley (East Orange, N.J.) came up with a pair of blocked shots in the final seconds of regulation as the Stetson women's basketball team (5-5) staved off a relentless Bethune-Cookman (5-4) ballclub for a 74-73 victory at Moore Gymnasium Monday evening. Senior guard Sharnesha Smith (Kingsland, Ga.) finished with a season-high 24 points to lead four scorers in double figures.
Leading 41-38 at halftime, Stetson watched as the Wildcats fought back to tie the game 53-53 with 12:30 remaining. The Hatters were able to regain the lead with a 10-2 run over the next five minutes that put Stetson ahead 63-55 with 7:17 to play at the penultimate media timeout.
As they did in the first half, B-CU refused to go away, fighting into the final minute with full-court pressure, forcing Hatter turnovers. One such sequence resulted in a Keturah Newkirk three-pointer with 35 seconds left that cut the Stetson lead to 74-73. The Hatters were able to run the clock down to 14.9 seconds before sophomore guard Tierra Brown (Orlando, Fla.) was fouled and sent to the line for a one and one.
Unfortunately for the Hatters, she missed the front end and the Wildcats came down for one last possession. B-CU got two good shots off but Carannante and Barkley rode to the rescue and would not let the ball go in the basket, allowing Stetson to claim its fourth win in five tries and beat the Wildcats for the fifth time in the last six meetings.
Smith made 10 of 19 field goals to finish just one point shy of her career high. Carannante filled up the stat sheet to the tune of 11 points, six rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals. Freshman guard Jessica Bivins (Orlando, Fla.) contributed 11 points, a career-high seven rebounds and two assists while Barkley also reached double figures, scoring 10 points, grabbing four boards, and blocking three shots with an assist and a steal.
Sarah Bolden put up 16 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks to lead the Wildcats, who also got 15 points apiece from Newkirk (four assists) and Demetria Frank (four rebounds, four assists, five steals). Cleniece Roberts had 11 points, eight boards and two blocks. Jasmine Daniels scored eight points with five rebounds and a game-high eight assists.
The Hatters jumped out from the opening tip in control, taking a 12-4 lead on the strength of good transition offense and six Smith points. Smith was on fire early, reaching double figures before the first period was even half over. Stetson continued to keep the pressure on, building a 13-point lead with 10:08 left in the half and forcing Bethune-Cookman to call a full timeout to stop the bleeding.
Bethune-Cookman dug its heels in coming out of the timeout and refused to let Stetson get any farther ahead. The two teams traded baskets for much of the rest of the first half until the Wildcats put on a late run, fueled by defensive pressure of their own, to roar all the way back within one point in the final seconds. Smith stepped up for the Hatters with a big basket with four seconds on the clock that allowed Stetson to head to the locker room leading 41-38. Smith finished with 14 points and four assists in the first half while Conner had seven.
Bolden led B-CU with 10 points while Newkirk and Roberts scored nine points each. Roberts pulled down a game-high six rebounds in the first half while Daniels handed out five assists.
Stetson is now off for the next nine days until a New Year's Eve contest at Arkansas as the Hatters and Razorbacks meet for the first time ever. Tip-off from Walton Arena is set for 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT) Dec. 31; Bill Topping will broadcast the action live on Hatter Vision, available exclusively at www.GoHatters.com, the official online home of Stetson Athletics.
