The Virginia State Trojans and Virginia Union Panthers kept their respective hopes for a CIAA North division title alive, collecting wins ahead of their impending contest this Saturday.
Virginia State went on the road to A.C. Jordan Arena, collecting its fifth consecutive win in a 75-52 drubbing of the Bowie State Bulldogs.
The win clinches Virginia State its second straight 20-win season, improving to 20-5 overall. This includes a 13-2 conference record and an 8-1 division record.
Bowie State dropped to 17-10 overall (11-4 against the conference and 6-3 against the division) with the loss. As a result, the Bulldogs are officially eliminating them from division title contention.
Former Bowie State guard Anii Harris led the charge for the Trojans against her former team, scoring 19 points on 50% shooting from the field. Amesha Miller filled the stat sheet with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal.
Mihjae Hayes was also impactful on both ends of the floor posting 11 points, nine assists, four rebounds, and five steals. Carmen Kweti came off the bench to record eight points, 14 rebounds, and two blocks.
Bowie State’s Destiny Ryles led all the scorers with 23 points while Sydney Anthony chipped in 11 points and three steals off the bench.
After exchanging the lead back-and-forth through the first four minutes of the first quarter, Miller hit a midrange jumper to give Virginia State an 8-7.
From that point on, the Trojans would not relinquish the lead, dominating the Bulldogs 44-16 in the paint on their way to victory.
Meanwhile, Virginia Union also stayed in the race for the CIAA North division title, collecting a 73-46 win over the Elizabeth City State Vikings.
Virginia Union claimed its fourth straight win to stay tied with Virginia State in the CIAA standings across the board.
Having already clinched its first losing season since 2019-2020, Elizabeth City State drops to 8-15 with this loss.
Rori Cox led the Panthers with 24 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Taniyah Greene added 13 points, eight rebounds, and two steals while Tatiana Jones chipped in 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
In the final 6:05 of the second quarter, Virginia Union outscored Elizabeth City State 12-2 to take a nine-point lead into halftime.
The Panthers remained in control for the remainder of the game, leading by as many as 28 points on their way to victory.
Virginia State will go on the road to Barco-Stevens Hall to face Virginia Union in each team’s regular season finale with the CIAA North title on the line.
