Women’s – #12 Livingstone 49, #5 Fayetteville State 38 (Opening Round)
Jamiah Lane played an excellent all-around game as the No. 12 seed Livingstone women shocked No. 5 seed Fayetteville State 49-38 in the opening game of the CIAA Tournament at Royal Farms Arena on Tuesday.
The Lady Blue Bears entered the tournament with a 4-12 conference record, including their only Southern Division win this past Saturday. The Broncos, who were the defending CIAA champions, tied for the best conference record (10-6) in the Southern Division coming into the tournament.
Lane finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals to lead the Lady Blue Bears (6-19 overall) to Wednesday’s quarterfinals, where they will face No. 4 seed and Southern Division champion Johnson C. Smith at 12 p.m.
Daijah Turner added 11 points and Andresia Alexander dished out six assists for the Lady Blue Bears, who seized control late in the first period. They led 22-15 at halftime and maintained their advantage in the third and fourth periods, increasing their lead to double digits. The Lady Broncos (13-12 overall) got within single digits in the second half but never mounted a serious rally.
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Alyssa Boyce collected nine rebounds and Alexis Lake finished with seven rebounds for the Lady Blue Bears, who outrebounded the Broncos 47-38 including an 18-9 edge in offensive rebounds. They also outscored their opponent 30-4 in bench points.
Morgan Graham recorded 16 points, eight rebounds and eight blocks for the Broncos. Rasheka Simmons added 14 points and three steals.
The Broncos defeated the Lady Blue Bears twice during the regular season, 61-40 and 50-45.
Women’s – #10 Claflin 68, #7 Virginia Union 56 (Opening Round)
The No. 10 seed Claflin women continued the string of upsets at the CIAA Tournament by upending No. 7 Virginia Union 68-56 in a first-round contest at Royal Farms Arena on Tuesday.
Claflin’s victory was the second by a lower seeded team in the tournament’s first two games. In the opening contest, No. 12 Livingstone stopped No. 5 Fayetteville State.
Claflin (8-18 overall) will take on No. 2 seed Elizabeth City State in Wednesday’s quarterfinals at 2:20 p.m. Virginia Union ends its season at 10-14 overall.
Food Lion MVP Destiny Coleman tallied 16 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks for Claflin, which opened a 33-12 halftime lead and never looked back. Lauren Scott added 15 points and seven rebounds and Janelle Sample chipped in 14 points, four assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Claflin clamped down defensively, forcing Virginia Union to shoot 13.8 percent and commit 13 turnovers in the first two periods. The turnovers led to 13 points for Claflin, which shot 50 percent in the first half.
Despite cold shooting in the first half, Virginia Union made a run in the fourth period to pull within eight points after trailing by 22 in the third period. Claflin fended off VUU for the win after Sample swished a deep three-pointer from the right corner to push the lead back to double digits with under two minutes left.
Olivia Lynch paced Virginia Union with 13 points and Ny Langley added 10.
Women’s – #8 Winston-Salem State 67, #9 Saint Augustine’s 54 (Opening Round)
The No. 8 Winston-Salem State Rams advanced to the 2022 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women’s Basketball Quarterfinals with a 67-54 win over the No. 9 Saint Augustine’s Lady Falcons Tuesday afternoon at Royal Farms Arena.
The Rams will face the No. 1 seeded Lions of Lincoln (PA) Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 4:30 p.m.
Amaya Tucker of WSSU was named the Food Lion MVP of the game with 10 points, six assists and two rebounds while Kennedi Simmons and Tyliah Burns added 12 and 11 points, respectively for the Rams.
As for the Lady Falcons, SAU was led by Jada Swafford’s game-high 15 points (6-11) while Taniyah Greene chipped in 12 points to round out the double-digit scorers.
After taking an 18-12 advantage in the first quarter, the Rams stretched its lead to double-digits over the Lady Falcons in the second stanza on a 11-3 run at the 5:39 mark. Saint Augustine’s hit its final of the half on a jumper from Bre’cha Byrd but WSSU closed out the half on a 5-0 spurt to lead 32-19 at halftime.
The Lady Falcons cut the deficit to seven (43-36) after a 14-13 scoring spread, yet a pair of free throws from Kendra Ross, followed by back-to-back layups built a 50-38 lead at the end of the third quarter in favor of WSSU.
The final period was highlighted by a 15-6 run from the Rams that stretched WSSU’s lead to 19-points – the largest in the game before layup from Swafford solidified any chance of a comeback for the Lady Falcons.
Women’s – #11 Virginia State 62, #6 Shaw 38 (Opening Round)
Natalia Leaks scored 20 points as the No. 11 seed Virginia State women downed No. 6 seed Shaw 62-38 in the first round of the CIAA Tournament at Royal Farms Arena on Tuesday.
The Trojans (11-16 overall) advanced to the quarterfinal round where they will play No. 3 seed Bowie State on Wednesday at 2 p.m. The Lady Bears’ season ended at 11-14 overall.
Kaaliya Williams added 13 points and Shayla Sweeney scored 12 points for the Trojans, whose defensive pressure was too much for the Lady Bears.
Shaw shot 20 percent from the floor and were forced into 23 turnovers. The Trojans took advantage of the miscues as they outscored the Lady Bears 22-0 in turnover points.
Both teams struggled to score in the first half. The Trojans led 7-5 after the first period and 18-11 at halftime. VSU heated up in the fourth period to pull away from the Lady Bears.
Shooting 46 percent in the fourth period, the Trojans outscored the Lady Bears 25-14. Their lead ballooned to 27 points late in the game.
Makenzie Pollard paced the Lady Bears with 12 points. Tanayja London collected 10 rebounds.
Courtesy: CIAA
