The Fayetteville State Broncos have punched their ticket to the CIAA championship game, coasting breezing past the Virginia State Trojans for an 86-61 win.
This game was all about Aniylah Bryant, who ultimately took over, finishing with 31 points on a perfect 11-of-11 shooting from the field, including five three-pointers. She also had three assists and four steals.
Nyak Wilkins came off the bench to score 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting and grabbed three steals.
Fayetteville State was in control of this game from start to finish, getting its first double-digit in the first seven minutes of the first quarter, and never let up.
Fayetteville State started the game off hot, shooting 64% from the floor in the first quarter, and never let up, ending the game shooting 54%.
CIAA Player of the Year Bryant showed why she is a star, powering the Broncos’ offense with a perfect shooting performance and carrying it over for the remainder of the game.
Though this performance was much different compared to the last time Bryant and FSU played the Trojans, in which she finished with just eight points on 3-of-11 shooting, Bryant says this had no bearing on her performance today.
“The first game wasn’t on my mind,” said Bryant. “I trust my teammates, and that wasn’t my game. It was somebody else’s game to step up. Tonight, I just happened to step up.
Fayetteville State coach Tyreece Brown echoed these sentiments: “We don’t look at shots and percentages because we’re going to get it back. I know [Aniylah Bryant] will get it back with her defense. That’s our culture; we don’t worry about missed shots. We never get on anybody about a shot or anything. We only tell them about defense, so there’s confidence in that.
While Fayetteville State will be going to the championship game, Virginia State’s season ends with a 22-5 overall record.
This is a 10-game improvement over their 12-16 record last season, the best overall single-season improvement of any CIAA team this year.
From Coach Nadine Domond’s perspective, her team’s turnaround came when her team “put it together.”
“We purposely looked at [the CIAA] and what we need to win. You’re talking about Elizabeth City, you’re talking about Fayetteville State, you’re talking about teams that have won [the CIAA championship]. You’re looking at the teams from the past like Shaw. So for us, we had to look at what we need to succeed, and that’s what happened.”
In addition, this was their first year finishing with a winning record since the 2017-2018 season and the first time they’ve advanced to the semifinals of the CIAA tournament since 2022.
For Fayetteville State, this will be its first CIAA championship appearance since 2020, when they beat Bowie State to claim their first title in 10 years.
They will clash with the reigning champion Elizabeth City State Vikings, whom they beat 67-63 back in December.
