BOWIE STATE ELIMINATES VIRGINIA UNION 67-59
(CHARLOTTE, NC - February 26, 2008) The venue may have been different but the result was the same, as the Bowie State University Lady Bulldogs cruise to a 67-59 CIAA Tournament Quarterfinal victory over the Virginia Union University Lady Panthers. Bowie State advances to Friday's (2/29) 3 p.m. tournament semifinal game to face the winner of the Johnson C. Smith University (#3 seed) and St. Paul's College (#6 seed) game.
Virginia Union (4-23) kept Bowie State in close range in the games first eight minutes. Unfortunately, the VUU Lady Panthers went cold over a five-minute stretch that allowed BSU's Lady Bulldogs to open a 24-12 advantage with 5:19 left in the period. Latoya Jarvis' lay-up with 4:03 left in the half, stopped the Bowie State 11-0 run. Bowie State extended its lead to 31-18 by the half, which was capped off with a 3-point bucket by Bianca Lee. The Bowie State defense forced Virginia Union into 16 first half turnovers, resulting in 14 Lady Bulldogs points.
Bowie State's lead grew to 41-25 by the first media timeout of the second half. Virginia Union was able to cut the deficit to 11 points four times and closed to within seven (61-54) with 1:35 left in the game and BSU's starters on the bench. From there it was a parade to the free throw line to end the contest.
Ashley Hill led Virginia Union with 16 points and Ciara Alston along with Dashia Chandler added 10 points each. Katchona Johnson led the Lady Panthers with a game-high nine rebounds. Virginia Union Head Coach Bryan Underwood summed up his teams season by saying, "I'm proud if my young ladies ... they put up a fight, showed character and never gave up!"
Bowie State's Lakisha Walker paced the Lady Bulldogs with a team-high 12 points to go along with five rebounds. Bianca Lee and Sherika Thomas chipped in 11 point apiece for the Lady Bulldogs.
As a team, Bowie State made 46 attempts from the free throw line, converting 23. Virginia Union also had numerous opportunities from the charity stripe, hitting 14-of-26. VUU did manage to top BSU in the rebound category. Virginia Union outrebounded Bowie State 46-40.
When asked if they were concerned about a mental letdown after beating Virginia Union convincingly twice during the regular season, Allyson Swailes said, "We couldn't dwell on past wins because everyone comes to the CIAA (Tournament) to win."
