Sequoyah stands tall as Shaw reigns

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Sequoyah Griffin scored 24 points and Shaw rallied to win its first national title, beating Ashland 88-82 in overtime on Friday night in the national championship game.

Aslea Williams added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Kyria Buford had 10 points for the Lady Bears (29-6), who erased an 11-point halftime deficit.

Jena Stutzman scored 32 points, and Kari Daugherty had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Eagles (33-2). Alyssa Miller added 12 points for Ashland.

Shaw opened overtime with a 13-2 run and held on to snap Ashland’s 33-game winning streak following its loss in the season opener.

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Sequoyah stands tall as Shaw reigns

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Shaw (N.C.) coach Jacques Curtis predicted the NCAA Women's Division II championship game against Ashland (Ohio) would go down to the wire. His evaluation was spot on, and he got to celebrate a happy ending. Sequoyah Griffin scored 24 points as Shaw claimed its first national title with an 88-82 come-from-behind overtime victory Friday night at Greehey Arena.

Defense was a main reason the Lady Bears (29-6) were in the Elite Eight, and that was their key against Ashland in overcoming a 14-point second-half deficit.  “I'm a good predictor,” Curtis said with a laugh. “We wanted it to be a close game, because that is to our advantage. We knew in a close game we would be fresher. We knew we would have a good chance to win.”

In addition to forcing 11 of Ashland's 21 turnovers in the second half, the offense picked up. Aslea Williams finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Brittany Ransom added 12, and tournament MVP Kyria Buford tacked on 10.

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Lady Bears Claim D-II National Championship With OT Win

SAN ANTONIO, Texes – "We are going to give them a game worthy of television." Shaw head coach Jacques Curtis had said those words in a press conference prior to the NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Championship.

Tonight, his players made him a prophet as Shaw came from an 11-point halftime deficit to claim an 88-82 overtime victory over #2 ranked Ashland to claim Shaw's first national championship in any sport.

"This is what Coach recruited us for," said Shaw senior center Aslea Williams. "I wasn't going to finish my senior year with a loss. Even when I didn't play well, my teammates had my back." Senior guard Brittney Spencer echoed her sentiment. "This feels awesome. This is what I dreamt about. This is what I play basketball for."

"It's a surreal feeling right now," said senior forward Kyria Buford. "After all we've gone through, it just feels unreal."

The Lady Bears got off to a quick start, but soon fell behind Ashland and trailed by 11 at the half.

"We weren't that concerned that we were down by 11 at the half," said Curtis. "We knew we hadn't played our best, but we felt good and had a lot of energy. We felt we could wear them down."

He continued, "We had to make sure we could still see them. They had a chance to put us away in the first, but didn't take advantage of it. We felt a close ballgame was to our advantage."

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