#8 Bowie State Bulldogs Upset #1 Virginia Union Lady Panthers 63-56 in NCAA Tournament

RICHMOND, Virginia – Payback was Bowie State's top game plan priority on Friday (3/9) and that is exactly what the Bulldogs got in upsetting #1 Virginia Union 63-56 in the opening round of the NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament.

After being beaten enough times in a row, twice in the regular season and a loss in the CIAA championship game had the Bulldogs looking for revenge. "Payback - that's all we could think about," said Bulldogs head coach Shadae Swan. "We just wanted to run it back."

Neither team played with any semblance of grace or control, but for the first time this season, Bowie State (21-9) outplayed the top-seeded Panthers (28-3).

That disruption started with limiting the damage by VUU's Rachael Pecota and Alexis Johnson, the CIAA Player of the Year. Johnson scored four points and had four rebounds, while Pecota had eight points and eight boards. Virginia Union's Shareka McNeill scored a team-high 14 for the Panthers, but she made just 3-of-12 from the floor and battled foul trouble. She was the only Union player in double figures.

"In the first game, Pecota killed us. The second game, Johnson killed us. The third game, they both killed us," Swan said. "We had to take them out of the game and make anybody else beat us."

The teams slogged through a first quarter that saw a combined 15 turnovers, but Virginia Union led 11-8 after the opening 10 minutes.

The Bulldogs, who lost its three earlier meetings by an average of 16.3 points, kept the pressure on in the second quarter and took a 27-26 edge into the break.

Spurred by the play Bowie State's Kyah Proctor, the Bulldogs had an answer for everything Virginia Union had in the second half. During stoppages in play, Proctor bantered with a VUU fan near mid-court who told her she would have to tire at some point. That point never came as she played all 40 minutes and scored a game-high 22 points. "If anything, he motivated me," Proctor said. "I took the energy he was giving me and used it on the court. Obviously, I was doing something if he was yelling at me."

BOX SCORE

Kiara Colston tallied 11 points and handed out a team-best four assists while Pere Alexander added 10 points and Dynaisha Christian contributed nine points and added a team-high eight rebounds in the victory.

"The win means a lot for the program," Swan said. "We're just trying to shift the culture of the program. We just needed to get over this hurdle."

The Bulldogs now advance to the second round to face Edinboro at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

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