CHARLOTTE, NC- The wait is over.
With a 73-49 victory over Lincoln, the Virginia State captured the 2015 CIAA Women’s Basketball Championship.
The title win was the first for Virginia State since 2002. The Trojans earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament.
Jessica Lyons led all players in the game with 16 points while DeAnna Waters chipped in 15 points.
Cana Marriott totaled 14 points including four three-pointers while Dashae Jones added 11 points in the victory for the Trojans.
The CIAA Tournament Most Valuable Player, Tiffanie Adair, grabbed eight rebounds in the win while Lyons added seven rebounds.
Virginia State shot 45.8% from the floor in the win.
Virginia State head coach James Hill Jr. commented, “Our main focused was to continue to do what we do. If we could continue to play defense and box out, we knew we’d be successful. This year our team is more balanced, anyone can score on any night as long as we get the win that’s what matters.”
Amani Clark paced the Lady Lions with 11 points in the setback.
Lennee Kimbell and Teira Pendleton chipped in six points in the loss while Lisa Saunders, Courtney Smith and Dejah Taylor notched five points each.
Courtney Lucas led all players in the game with 10 rebounds.
Lincoln shot 27% from the floor over the course of the competition.
The Lincoln University head coach Jessica Kern stated, “Well, honestly, whatever could have went wrong tonight did…I did enjoy seeing that the fight never stopped from these ladies. I’m proud of them and I know we wanted it to end differently but they never gave up.”
theciaa.com