College of Charleston women win WBI opener

MOREHEAD, Ky. — Senior guard Ericka Williams scored 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds as the College of Charleston beat Morehead State, 67-59, on Wednesday in the Women's Basketball Invitational, the first Division I postseason victory for the Cougars.

The Cougars (20-11), who led 33-25 at halftime, surged ahead by as much as 16 points in the second half at 50-34 before Morehead State (22-11) rallied to cut the lead to 59-48 with 10 minutes to go.

But Charleston never let the Eagles get closer than eight points the rest of the way, setting up a second-round matchup with No. 6 seed Bradley at 2 p.m. Sunday at Carolina First Arena. Bradley beat Louisville, 69-59, on Wednesday.

The victory was the first in the postseason for the College of Charleston women since the 1980-81 season at the NAIA level. The victory gave the Cougars 20 wins for a second straight season, the first time they have done that since joining Division I in 1991-92.

Cougars senior center Deidra Jones had 13 points and eight rebounds, as did senior forward Brooke Kotcella.

Chynna Bozeman led all players with 22 points and 10 rebounds for Morehead State.

In the opening half, the Cougars led 17-14 midway through before using an 8-1 run to stretch the lead to double digits at 25-15.

But Bozeman scored eight straight points as the Eagles fought back into the game, cutting the Cougars' halftime : lead to eight.