Daytona Beach, Fla. - After a turnover-marred first half caused by a tenacious Bethune-Cookman press, Stetson's backcourt tandem of juniors Victoria McGowan (Inkster, Mich.) and Shanasa Sanders (Jacksonville, Fla.) sparked the Hatters to a much cleaner second stanza in an 82-64 win over their Volusia County rival Sunday at Moore Gymnasium. McGowan flirted with another triple-double, finishing with a career-high 27 points plus nine rebounds and nine assists while Sanders scored 20 points. Stetson improved to 8-3 while B-CU dropped to 1-6.
B-CU's full-court pressure seemed to fluster the normally composed Hatters early on, causing 16 first half giveaways and allowing the hosts to lead by as many as six points halfway through the first period. Eventually Stetson would settle down and work the ball to McGowan and Sanders, whose scoring and passing allowed the Hatters to fight back ahead. A 4-0 mini-spurt in the final two minutes sent Stetson to the locker room ahead 37-33.
The Hatters came out gunning in the second half, starting on a 19-4 run (23-4 in total) that essentially put the game away in the first eight minutes. McGowan, Sanders and junior guard Ashley Dennis (Bexley, Ohio) all stroked three-pointers that made the Lady Wildcats pay for their miscues on the other end.
B-CU came within 12 points at 68-56 on an Amber Antoine free throw with 4:17 to go, but the Hatters made eight straight at the charity stripe on the way home to seal the victory. Stetson was 22-27 (81.5 percent) at the foul line on the day. Stetson made only 11 turnovers in the second half, down from 16 in the first 20 minutes.
McGowan finished 9-13 from the floor and an impressive 6-7 from three-point land to score 27 points and beat her old career high by one, adding nine rebounds and nine assists. She had previously put up a 26-point, 11-rebound, 10-assist triple-double in a December 4 double overtime loss at Ball State. Sanders added 20 points on the strength of 10-10 free throw shooting as the Hatters put two players at/over the 20-point mark for the first time this year. Freshman forward Cherisse Burris (Blue Springs, Mo.) scored 11 points with six rebounds and a career-high four assists while sophomore forward Sasha Sims (Fayetteville, Ga.) finished with eight points, eight rebounds and a career-high four blocks.
Demetria Frank paced four Lady Wildcats in double figures with 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists. She was joined by Cleniece Roberts (12 points, 12 rebounds), Jalisa Isaac (11 points) and Jasmine Elum (10 points).
The Hatters won their third non-conference road game of the season, a feat they had not accomplished since 1986-87. Stetson is back in action at 1:00 pm Saturday, hosting USC Upstate in Atlantic Sun Conference action at the Edmunds Center. Live Stats and Hatter Vision with Bill Topping and Dee Romine will be available at GoHatters.com.
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