Bowie State oDefeat Shaw Lady Bears 56-47 in CIAA Tournament Opening Round

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament tipped off Tuesday morning as Bowie State University and Shaw University squared off at the Bojangles Coliseum. Bowie State used strong second and third quarters and held off a Shaw rally in the fourth to come away with a 56-47 win.

The Bulldogs, the #4 seed in the North Division, improve to 18-8 and will face the #1 seed from the South division Fayetteville State on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Bojangles Coliseum. Shaw concludes their season with a 6-23 record.

Senior Kyah Proctor (Capital Heights, Md.) scored 19 points while graduate student Sade Chatman (Minneapolis, Minn.) added ten to pace the Bulldogs offense. Redshirt junior Pere Alexander (Baltimore, Md.) added eight points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Senior Kiara Colston (Burtonsville, Md.) led the Bulldogs with five assists.

Lervencia Johnson (Many, La.) recorded a double-double for the Bears, scoring 12 points while grabbing ten rebounds. Emily Davis (Cleveland, Ohio) also had 12 points for the Lady Bears.

The two teams played a closely contested first quarter with neither team leading by more than one possession over the first six minutes. The Bulldogs used a 7-1 run to break a 9-9 tie and open a 16-10 lead with 1:31 to go before Johnson's jumper pulled Shaw within two 16-12 at the end of the period.

The Bulldogs scored four of the first six points in the second quarter to take a six-point lead before the Bears scored on two straight possessions to pull within two 20-18. Bowie State used a 7-2 run over the final 4:31 of the second quarter to open their biggest lead of the first half, 27-20. Chatman provided the first four points of the run and a three-point basket by senior Lisa Jing (Laurel, Md.) at the buzzer capped the run.

An 11-4 run by Bowie State over the first five minutes of the third quarter pushed the Bulldogs lead to double digits, 38-24 midway through the third quarter. Shaw countered with a 10-5 flourish to end the quarter to cut the lead back to single digits, 43-34.

Raquel Kellow (Conroe, Texas) opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to bring Shaw within six, 43-37. Alexander and Proctor answered with back to back three-pointers to again give Bowie a double-digit lead 49-37. The Lady Bears clawed back within seven, 54-47 with a 10-5 run with just 39.2 seconds left. Colston sank two free throws with 11 seconds left to provide the final points of the game and seal the 56-47 win for the Bulldogs.

The teams were relatively even shooting wise, with the Bulldogs having the slight advantage, making 19-of-57 shots (33.3 percent) to Shaw's 16-of-49 (32.7 percent). The Bulldogs were 13-of-16 at the free throw line (81.3 percent) while the Lady BearXs made 13-of-20 (65 percent). Bowie State also held a 39-36 rebounding edge.

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