CIAA Basketball Tournament - Women's Game 1
Virginia Union 61, Livingstone 60
2/24/2009
CHARLOTTE, NC -At 7:00p.m. Eastern Time tonight and with much anticipation the 2009 CIAA Basketball Tournament officially got underway. Tonight's opening tip off game featured the #8 Livingstone College Lady Blue Bears (9-19) and the #9 Virginia Union University Lady Panthers (9-17). The two teams split play in the regular season with each team picking up wins on their respective home courts.
Tonight's game was a battle from beginning to end as each team fought to keep their season alive. But it was the Lady Panthers who had the final say as they edged Livingstone with a final score of 61-60.
Virginia Union jumped out to an 18-7 lead over Livingstone twelve minutes into the game but the Lady Blue Bears got an offensive spark from Brittany Wright (East Orange, NJ) who came in off the bench to net 12 first half points. Wright helped to ignite a 13-4 Lady Blue Bear run over the final five minutes of play to pull her team within five points of the Lady Panthers at halftime, 26-21. Along with her 12 first half points, Wright pulled down eight rebounds. Virginia Union's Kara Scott (Richmond, VA) hit a lay-up at the first half buzzer to end a five minute scoring dry spell and give her team a five point lead heading into halftime.
The second half began the same way that it ended. The Lady Blue Bears pulled within two points at 28-26 of the Lady Panthers at the 16:17 mark when Montiya Harrison (Petersburg, VA) picked up a loose ball and tossed it down court to an open Elicia Gilliam (Norfolk, VA) who laid in an uncontested lay up. The Lady Panthers went on a 13-1 run over seven minutes of play in the second half. That run was led by Tonaye Smith (Detroit, MI) who scored eight straight points to spread the lead 44-29 with just under ten minutes to play in the game.
Rashida Elbourne (Newport News, VA) ended a five minute spell with no Livingstone baskets after nailing a three pointer. That shot ended a 13-3 run by the Panthers. Smith went back to work for the Lady Panthers scoring on their next possession to spread the lead to eleven points at 46-35. Back-to-back scores by the Lady Blue Bears chipped away at the Lady Panther lead at 48-40 with just over five minutes to play in the game. Livingstone's Wright hit a floater in the paint with 5:05 to play in the game to pull within six points of the lead at 48-42. VUU's Dashia Chandler (Chester, VA) made good on a three-point play after being fouled to give the Lady Panthers a 51-44 lead but Wright cut that lead to five with a basket in the paint on Livingstone's next possession.
VUU spread their lead back to ten at 56-46 after Scott made good on a fast-break lay at the 3:14 mark of the second half. The two teams exchanged buckets on their next possessions. Elbourne hit another three-pointer at the 1:30 mark to pull her team within six points at 59-53. Elbourne banked a three pointer at the final buzzer but it wasn't enough to lift her team over the Lady Panthers tonight.
Despite the battle that the Lady Blue Bears put up tonight, Virginia Union was able to protect their lead over the final two minutes of the game to take the 61-60 win and advance to the next round.
For Virginia Union, Tonaye Smith scored a game-high 30 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. Joining her in double-figures was Dashia Chandler who chipped in 10 points and five rebounds. Livingstone's Brittany Wright scored 24 points and hauled in 15 rebounds on an 8-19 shooting performance. Rashida Elbourne hit 4-5 from three point land to join her in double-figures with 17 points. Chelsea Johnson chipped in 10 points and dished out four assists in the Livingstone loss.
The Lady Panthers improve to 9-17 overall while Livingstone finishes up at 9-18 on the season. Virginia Union advances to play the #1 seed, Bowie State University (17-10) tomorrow afternoon at 3:00pm.
