Saint Augustine's Lady Falcons Rally For 70-68 Win Over ECSU!

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Saint Augustine's College advanced to the CIAA Tournament semifinals for the second time in three years Tuesday because the Lady Falcons never quit.

Down 13 points late and seemingly headed for defeat, the Lady Falcons staged a spectacular comeback to pull out a 70-68 victory over Elizabeth City State at Time Warner Cable Arena. The win avenged last year's first-round defeat to the Lady Vikings in the tournament. More importantly, the victory sends the Lady Falcons (19-10 overall) against arch nemesis Shaw in a 1 p.m. semifinal game Friday between the two Raleigh, N.C., schools.

It is a good thing the semifinals start later in the week because the Lady Falcons need a day or two to enjoy the win over the Lady Vikings, who led 63-50 with 7:08 left in the game. The game left the Lady Falcons exhausted but exhilarated. This was the second victory over ECSU this season.

That was a very tough game, ECSU played a very tough game,” Lady Falcon first-year head coach Rachel Bullard said. “We played very resilient at the end and I am very proud of the girls. They didn't give up on me.”

Boxscore

Saint Augustine's upsets Elizabeth City State

Mallard Creek High graduate Umeka Benson's free throw with 7.4 seconds left lifted St. Augustine's to a 70-68 win against North No.1 seed Elizabeth City State and a semifinal date against cross-town Raleigh rival Shaw.

Benson, the CIAA's rookie of the year, converted the second of two free throws after stealing a pass in the final seconds to push St. Augustine's (No. 4 South, 19-10) in front. She scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds. Three other Falcons scored double-digits, paced by Crystal McCaffity (6-of-13 from the field) and player-of-the-year Allison Sikes with 19 each. Le'Keisha White tossed in 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for St. Augustine's, which overcame a 35-28 halftime deficit.

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NEXT GAME: 1 P.M. FRIDAY, VS. SHAW UNIVERSITY
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Jordan Lifts Bowie State Past Winston-Salem State and into CIAA Semifinals

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Named the CIAA Defensive Player of the Year, Bowie State junior Chanita Jordan (Philadelphia, PA, University City, North Carolina State) is known for blocking a multitude of shots.

But she changed this game on offense.

Jordan, who averages just 8.3 points per game, scored seven in a span of 50 seconds midway through the second half in Bowie State’s decisive run to lift the Lady Bulldogs past Winston-Salem State 63-56 on Tuesday evening and into the CIAA Tournament semifinals.

Jordan finished with just two rebounds, though she did record four blocked shots – more on those in a minute -- but the 6-foot-4 junior center led the No. 2 seed from the CIAA North with 15 points on six-of-13 shooting. Her seven points in less than a minute fueled a 13-3 Bowie State run that gave the Lady Bulldogs a 52-40 lead with 8:31 to go.

“I just had to make sure I had the right form,” said Jordan, “and fortunately, they went in today.” But don’t think for a moment that Jordan is thinking about changing her game.

When Winston-Salem State (17-11) managed to trim the deficit under 10 points with less than six minutes remaining, Jordan swatted away back-to-back shots from the Lady Rams’ Jazmine Wilson deep in the paint as the Lady Bulldogs (18-9) were able to stem the Winston-Salem State comeback attempt.

Lady Rams take Heartbreaking 63-56 Loss in CIAA Quarterfinals

CHARLOTTE, NC - The Winston-Salem State Lady Rams (17-11) gave it their all, but the team fell short in a heartbreaking 63-56 loss to the Bowie State Lady Bulldogs (18-9) in the quarterfinal round of the 2011 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) tournament, Tuesday afternoon. The Lady Rams played a great game, but could not overcome a big second half effort by the Lady Bulldogs.

"It was a hard fought ballgame for us. I really think we had a three-minute stretch during the second half where we really lost the ballgame," WSSU head women's basketball coach Stephen Joyner, Jr. said. "I think outside of that three-minute stretch, we actually played pretty even with them and actually had them in the ballgame that we wanted. But nevertheless, we didn't finish out what we came here to do and Bowie [State] moves on."

Box Score | Photo Gallery

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NEXT GAME: 3 P.M. FRIDAY, VS. Johnson C. Smith University
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Shaw Shows No Fatigue As They Down Virginia State

CHARLOTTE, NC - After playing less than 24 hours earlier, Shaw showed no signs of fatigue in a 72-53 CIAA Tournament women's quarterfinal victory over Virginia State Tuesday at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Demaria Liles, a 6-1 forward, produced a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Lady Bears (19-11), who scored 34 points off 31 VSU turnovers for the win. Jackie Sanders, a 6-3 forward, came off the bench to score 12 points while Kyria Buford and Brittney Spencer added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Lady Bears, the No. 2 Southern Division seed.

The Lady Bears advance to Friday's semifinal where they will play the Saint Augustine's College-Elizabeth City State winner at 1 p.m.

VSU LADY TROJANS ELIMINATED FROM CIAA TOURNAMENT

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - After playing less than 24 hours earlier, Shaw showed no signs of fatigue in a 72-53 CIAA Tournament women's quarterfinal victory over Virginia State Tuesday at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Demaria Liles, a 6-1 forward, produced a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Lady Bears (19-11), who scored 34 points off 31 VSU turnovers for the win. Jackie Sanders, a 6-3 forward, came off the bench to score 12 points while Kyria Buford and Brittney Spencer added 11 and 10 points, respectively for the Lady Bears, the No. 2 Southern Division seed. The Lady Bears advance to Friday's semifinal where they will play the Saint Augustine's College-Elizabeth City State winner at 1 p.m.

The Lady Bears were coming off a first-round victory Monday against Lincoln (Pa.) which started at 7 p.m. Despite beginning at 1 p.m. Tuesday, the Lady Bears had enough energy to dispatch the Lady Trojans. In the only meeting against VSU this season, the Lady Bears came up short 74-68 in overtime on Jan. 8. This time, the Lady Bears led mostly the entire way mainly because of Liles, a 6-1 forward, and Sanders, a 6-3 forward.

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NEXT GAME: 1 P.M. FRIDAY, VS. SAINT AUGUSTINE'S COLLEGE
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Desiree Cox Scores Winning Goal in HU Overtime Thriller

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senior Desiree Cox lifted the Howard women’s lacrosse team to their first win of the season with the game-winning in an overtime thriller against the Marywood University Pacers. Cox’s six goals helped push the Bison to their 15-14 win.

The Bison flew to an early 5-0 lead over the Pacers before eventually allowing four unanswered goals. Howard would regain control and never let up their lead and ensued to score four additional quick goals in the second half.

Howard Bison Midfielder Desiree Cox

In the later part of the second period, however, Marywood’s Kimberly Commisso took advantage of a free position shot and inched Marywood within a goal of Howard’s 11-10 lead. Cox immediately responded with a goal to push Howard back up, 12-10.

A critical point in the final minutes of the game came when freshman Imani McLeary sacked her second yellow card, allowing Marywood another free position attempt. Marywood’s Taylor McKeown took advantage of the opportunity and successfully tied the game at 12 goals a piece with 7:12 left on the clock.

Junior Cheryse Cox garnered a free position shot of her own immediately following Marywood’s score and broke the tie to bring Howard up 13-12. Another Marywood score would bring the game back to a tie. Marywood would attempt to take the game with less than 30 seconds left in regulation, but HU’s goalie Amber Meeks garnered a crucial save in the net to send the match into overtime. Meeks would go on to finish the game with 12 saves.

Commisso jumpstarted the first overtime period with a goal, giving Marywood their first lead of the game. Desiree would have an opportunity to tie the game with a free position shot with time expired, but missed. She would rebound, however, to claim her fifth goal of the game off an assist from Cheryse. Cheryse led the Bison with two assists on the day.

Desiree would be granted another pair of chances after scoring what would have been the game-winning goal, however the point was taken away as a result of a Marywood foul. With less than a minute remaining, Desiree was allowed another free position shot, where she nailed the goal that afforded the Bison their first win of the season.

Desiree scored a season-high six goals in the game and led the Bison with 15 shots. Cheryse chimed in with thee goals on 12 total shots, while Courtland Lackey added two goals on three shots. Chastity Dailey, Ashley Lawrence, and Cynithia Smalls finished the game with a goal a piece to assist Howard in it’s highest scoring game thus far into the season.

By Tiffany White, Sports Information Assistant
Howard University
Visit: howard-bison.com

Division I Howard Nips Pacers in Overtime, 15-14

Washington, D.C. – Desiree Cox scored with just 23 seconds to play in the second overtime period to lift Division I Howard University to a 15-14 win over Marywood University in non-conference women's lacrosse action on Tuesday afternoon. The victory lifts the Bison's record to 2-3 on the young season while the Pacers finish their season-opening Spring Break trip with a 1-1 mark.

Howard built a 5-0 lead over the first 12:43 of Wednesday's contest before Marywood rattled off four consecutive goals to close the half and trail by a slim, 5-4 margin at the intermission. Allie Sodl started the Pacers' run with an unassisted tally at the 15:36 mark of the first half and Diana D'Achille scored just over three minutes later. Taylor McKeown netted the final two goals of the half for the Pacers.

The Bison opened the second half with a 4-0 run to reclaim a five-goal cushion at 9-4 when Courtland Lackey scored unassisted with 22:16 left on the clock. Marywood's Kimberly Commisso countered just 13 seconds later and D'Achille and McKeown followed with goals of their own to make the score 9-7 with 19:58 to play. Liz Fowler assisted on McKeown's third goal of the game to record the first point of her collegiate career.

Box Score

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2011 CIAA Tournament Championships: CIAA LIVE STREAM

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March 1, 2011 CIAA Women's Basketball Evening Schedule 

Virginia State University 53
Shaw University 72

Winston-Salem State University 56
Bowie State University 63

Saint Augustine's College 70
Elizabeth City State University 68

Chowan University 52.
Johnson C. Smith University 71

@Time Warner Cable Arena - Charlotte, NC CIAA Tournament - Quarterfinal


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No Tears for Hampton's Jerica Jenkins in Fight With Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Hampton, VA - When doctors told Hampton point guard Jerica Jenkins that she had cancer, she cried for a long time that April day.

It's an understandable reaction, even more so for a high school freshman, which she was at the time of the diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma.

That day ended, and, so too did Jenkins' tears, as it's coming up on seven years since that day, and she hasn't wasted any water on her cancer.

"I was shocked," said Jenkins, a 5-foot-4 junior from Lancaster, Tex. "I didn't believe it. I was 14. I was like, 'There's no way I have cancer.' I just couldn't believe it. I cried right then. Then, I realized that I had to deal with it and move on."

LADY PIRATES TO CLOSE OUT SEASON AT HOWARD

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Hampton University women’s basketball team will close out the regular season at Burr Gymnasium on Thursday, when the Lady Pirates take on Howard at 6 p.m.

The Lady Pirates (21-6, 14-1 MEAC), in their second season under head coach David Six, won their ninth straight game on Saturday, beating Delaware State 77-64 at Memorial Hall. Junior guard Choicetta McMillian (Fairfield, Texas) led the Lady Pirates with 16 points, while sophomore forward Keiara Avant (Chesapeake, Va.) added 15 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Jericka Jenkins (Lancaster, Texas) added 13 points and 10 assists for her fourth double-double of the season.

Howard (13-16, 9-6 MEAC) had its three-game winning streak snapped on Saturday with a 53-50 loss at Maryland Eastern Shore. Sophomore forward Saadia Doyle led the Lady Bison with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while sophomore guard Tamoria Holmes added 12 points and sophomore guard Cheyenne Curley-Payne scored 10 points in the loss.

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NSU Spartans zone out, can't solve Coppin State's defense

CSU Eagles Coach Ron "Fang" Mitchell

NORFOLK - The Norfolk State Spartans were a bit put off when their league's preseason rankings predicted they would finish sixth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

Now they are a bit put off by the fact that the prediction was correct. Playing lethargically throughout and pinned in by their opponent's well-played zone defense, the Spartans fell 76-69 to Coppin State on Monday night at Echols Hall.

Coupled with fifth-place North Carolina A&T's win at Morgan State, Monday's loss means the Spartans (9-19, 7-8) can finish no higher than sixth, and could finish seventh.

Coleman's Career-High 20 Points Leads Coppin State Over Norfolk State

NORFOLK, Va. – Freshman Kyra Coleman scored a career-high 20 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds as Coppin State snapped a two-game losing streak with a 64-50 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference victory over Norfolk State on Monday in Echols Hall.

Coleman sparked a second-half rally by the Eagles as she scored 16 of her 20 points after halftime helping Coppin State to overcome a four-point deficit at the intermission. She finished the game 8-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from the free throw line.

Coppin State (11-16, 8-7 MEAC) shot 53.3 percent from the floor in the second half, while limiting Norfolk State to just 29.7 percent shooting. The Eagles shot just 22.2 percent in the first half and trailed 24-20 at halftime.

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