Saturday, February 25, 2017

Johnson C. Smith women beat Virginia State to win first CIAA title since 2009

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- Steve Joyner Jr. delivered on his pledge to make J.C. Smith women’s basketball relevant again.

The Golden Bulls, the South Division’s top seed, wore down North No. 3 Virginia State 68-59 for the CIAA title Saturday at Spectrum Center, winning the school’s first championship since 2009 and earning an automatic berth in the Division II national tournament. As has been the case throughout the tournament, J.C. Smith’s (22-7) bench came up big, outscoring Virginia State’s reserves 47-14.

“I think our depth was the difference-maker,” said Joyner, who became the first person to earn a CIAA title as a player and coach and joined his dad Steve Sr. as the first relatives to win league titles as coaches. “I think they got tired in the second half because of the tempo we forced them to play, and that was the deciding factor.”

The best of the reserves was ...

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