Saint Paul's Upsets Fayetteville State, 71-68, In CIAA Tournament First-Round

February 27, 2006 

CHARLOTTE, NC - The first upset of the 2006 CIAA Tournament came in the very first contest of the day as the sixth-seeded Lady Tigers of Saint Paul's College earned a 71-68 victory over the third-seeded Lady Broncos of Fayetteville State University in the tournament's inaugural game in the Charlotte Bobcats Arena.

Nikki Bowen and Katrina Wright each tallied 17 points in the game as they led three Saint Paul's Lady Tigers into double figures in the victory that earned SPC their first CIAA Tournament game win in four years (a win over Fayetteville State in 2002).

The Lady Broncos jumped out to an early lead as they forged ahead of the Lady Tigers by six points only 4:28 into the contest courtesy of a three-point play from guard Tiffany Mitchell who recorded her 1,000^th career point in the loss.

However, the Lady Tigers used an 8-4 run to close the half trailing the higher-seeded Lady Broncos by only one point at 22-21.

Saint Paul's College used a 22-11 run over the first 10:49 of the second half to turn the one-point halftime deficit into a nine point lead of their own with 9:11 remaining in the game.

The Lady Tigers increased the nine-point margin to a game high 14 points over the next five minutes of play as they seemingly put the game out of reach.

To Fayetteville State's credit, the Lady Broncos refused to go down without a fight as they stormed all the way back to within three points of SPC and earned themselves an opportunity to tie the game. 

Despite the late-game run by the Lady Broncos, the comeback bid fell short as Deana Wooten's last-second three-pointer in an effort to tie force overtime was just off the mark as Saint Paul's hung on for the three-point victory.

The Lady Tigers improve to 6-22 overall with the win as Fayetteville State concludes the 2005-06 season with a 13-15 record.

Saint Paul's College advances to Tuesday's second-round as they earn a meeting with the #2 seed in the CIAA East, the Lady Vikings of Elizabeth City State University.  Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 pm.

For additional information on the 2006 CIAA Women's Basketball Championship Tournament log on to the Official Website of CIAA Athletics at www.THECIAA.com