JCSU Golden Bulls Women's Basketball Eliminated with a 70-47 Loss to Fayetteville State

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina  -- The Johnson C. Smith University women's basketball team suffered elimination from the 2014 CIAA Tournament with a 70-47 quarterfinals loss to Fayetteville State University on Wednesday, February 26th at the Time Warner Cable Arena. JCSU finishes the season with a record of 14-13 overall and 8-8 in the CIAA.

Fayetteville State, the Southern Division's top seed, heads to the semifinals to play Virginia Union, the No. 3 Northern Division seed, at either 1 p.m. or 3 p.m. on Friday, February 28.

In the first half, Amber Calvin hit the second of back-to-back three-pointers to give the Lady Broncos a 9-7 lead. Her three-pointer ignited the Lady Broncos, who went on an 8-1 run for a 17-8 lead.

A basket by freshman guard Quinesha Lynch (Rocky Mount, NC) stopped the run and started a Golden Bulls' run. They climbed back within 17-13 while holding FSU scoreless for five minutes. The drought ended when Akysia Resper scored a layup off her steal for a 19-13 lead. The lead reached 21-13 on a short bank shot by CIAA Defensive Player of the Year Deja Middleton.

Middleton scored again for a 23-17 lead, but senior guard Karnina Bunch (Vicksburg, MS) scored on a driving bank shot to pull the Golden Bulls within four points. Calvin hit another three pointer right before the half for a 26-19 lead.

Calvin led the Lady Broncos with 11 points in the first half. Bunch paced JCSU with seven points at the break.

Middleton had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the second half as the Lady Broncos created some distance. Fayetteville State outscored the Golden Bulls 44-28 in the second half to break open the contest after only leading 26-19 at halftime.

Middleton continued to dominate inside, scoring a layup for a 61-36 lead late in the contest. Resper added a jumper for a 27-point Lady Broncos' lead.

"First and foremost, hats off to Fayetteville State," said JCSU head coach Stephen Joyner, Jr. "They played a great game. Everybody on their team showed up. I have no problem losing a ball game as long as we fight, but I'm disappointed because we did not do that. We've got to get more heart, more hustle, more effort. I know what this team is capable of and we came up way short. We've got to understand that we did not fight the way we're capable of fighting in order to advance in the future. We will use this as motivation."

JCSU struggled shooting from the floor in the second half, connecting on just 33 percent of their attempts. For the contest, the Lady Broncos outshot the Golden Bulls 42 to 31 percent and won the rebounding battle 44-29.

Bunch finished with a team-high 14 points for the Golden Bulls. Senior guard Deanna Downer (Elberton, GA) followed that effort with eight points, four rebounds, and two assists. All-CIAA center Ashley Porter (Winston-Salem, NC) had six points, five boards, and three blocks.

Middleton had 18 points and 17 rebounds to lead four players in double figures for Fayetteville State. Resper added 16 points, Calvin added 14 points and JeLena Robertson s
cored 10 points for the Lady Broncos (20-6 overall).

Box Score            

COURTESY JOHNSON C. SMITH UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION