No.1 seed Shaw beats Fayetteville; one game away from Championship
February 29, 2008
Top seed and Western Division leader, the Shaw University Lady Bears hosted Game 7 against the Fayetteville State University Lady Broncos. Shaw jumped out to a 20-3 lead in the first five minutes of the game before surviving a frantic FSU comeback attempt in the second half to advance to the Championship Game with a 87-74 victory.
Shaw was led by Game MVP Celanese Boseman who scored 27 points, 18 in the second half. She was 10-20 from the field and 3-4 from the free throw line. She was also named the Most Valuable Player of the game.
With two all-conference honorees, Shenicqua ‘Nicky' Souter and Jamie Goshen, the Bears defensively ran the floor for possession on Bronco turnovers. In the opening minutes of the half, the ladies of Raleigh, North Carolina dominated on a 10-0 run in only 1:40 for a 15-point lead of 20-5, with a solid three-point pull from Bozeman. The Broncos fell short on offense with 15 turnovers in four minutes and sunk to the Bear's deflecting defensive press. Shaw scored a point off of every Bronco turnover.
Fayetteville's Erica Gilley worked on offense, but was held off by the lower paint press of forward Rebecca Hyppolite and center Shana Andrus.
Point guard Jessica Davis directed the Bear offense with efficient passing in the paint where the Lady Bears outscored FSU 32-10. With 1:38 left and up by 21, Raleigh native Jan'el Baxter advanced the Bears to a large lead of 23, and soon after, an impressive 25-point lead.
The half closed with a score of 51-27. The Bears shot 40 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free throw line. Baxter and Bozeman had a combined 19 total points. Shaw was out-rebounded by the Broncos 31-26, with seven coming Game 3 MVP L'Oreal Price.
Three minutes into the second half, Shaw reached its lead to 32, with uninterrupted field completions in the paint. Under pressure, the Broncos responded with a 19-1 run with the works of both Price and all-CIAA Leticia Dickson to cut the lead to 19. With execution to the basket, the Broncos hyped the game with fast break drives and attracted Bear contact for shots at the line, shooting 55.6 percent. With 9:08 remaining, Fayetteville pulled within 10 points, 69-59.
Shaw worked the clock and fought off the Lady Bronco rally to preserve the win thanks to Boseman's 18 second-half points including several key three-pointers down the stretch.
Shaw University will return for Saturday's finals game in Charlotte, North Carolina in the Bobcats Arena at 5:00 p.m to face the winner of the second semifinal game featuring Bowie State and Johnson C. Smith.
