JCSU wins battle of Division Top Seeds

JCSU wins battle of Division Top Seeds

March 4, 2011

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Back and forth they went, the conference’s best team in the regular season, against the No. 1 seed from the opposing division to earn a trip to the tournament finals.

Johnson C. Smith (24-3), the champion the South and a favorite to win the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA)Women’s Basketball Tournament, overcame a four-point deficit in the final 54 seconds for a 69-64 win at Time-Warner Arena.

Bowie State, the winner of the regular season in the North, led much of the night going up as much as 11 at 38-27 after its opening bucket in the second half. BSU appeared have a comfortable 64-60 edge with 54 seconds left before two turnovers resulted in the Lady Bulldogs’ demise.

“I said to myself it’s not over,” said JCSU head coach Vanessa Taylor. “The young women who have played for me have played very passionately. The culture they’ve created within the team is fight. We go down kicking and screaming. Some of them have stepped up their roles and are willing to take big shots.”

The resurgent win by Johnson C. Smith sets the stage for a final against Shaw University at 6 p.m. on Saturday. JCSU swept a pair of tightly contested regular-season meetings, most recently a 63-57 encounter at Brayboy Gymnasium on Feb. 14.  JCSU last won the conference tournament in 2009 by defeating Virginia Union in the championship.

With 54 seconds left, BSU’s Brittney Jackson made one of two, and on the miss, the Lady Golden Bulls raced down the court, and Terrica Jones sunk a trey from the left corner to get JCSU within a possession of the lead with 49 seconds to go.

As BSU’s Chanita Jordan tried to break the press with a pass at midcourt, it was tipped to the Lady Golden Bulls’ Terran Quattlebaum capitalized with a lay-in with 33.6 seconds left for a 65-64 lead.

“We’re not a very selfish team,” said Quattlebaum.  “No one can guard us. Coach tells us that preparation is key.”

Coming out of a timeout, Shontanette Shaw came up with a steal, and Quattlebaum made two free throws to steal the game.

Quattlebaum and LaQwesha Gamble each finished with 17 points while Gamble also had a team-high seven rebounds. Juliette Turner led Bowie State with 16 points and five rebounds. Jordan added 13 points and seven rebounds in the loss.

The game began with the Lady Bulldogs assuming control, assembling a nine-point on three occasions in the first half. After trailing, 27-18 with more than seven minutes left in the period, the Golden Bulls closed within 27-24, but JCSU struggled mightily from the field after shooting just 25 percent in the opening stanza.

Jordan, Bowie State’s, 6-foot-5 center, had a lot to do with that. Although she had just one block in the first half and 2 for the game, she consistently altered shots and got into the psyche of the conference’s best team in the regular season.

But the confidence began brewing. JCSU rattled off an 11-1 run to take the lead. Shavonda Price drew JCSU within on a jumper from the free-throw line six minutes into the second half, and two Gamble free throws gave JCSU its first lead since 7-5 2:32 into the game.

BSU would not surrender control quietly. Jordan came through in the post with a spin move that put BSU back up, 42-40. JCSU turned the ball over on its next possession, and Brittney Jackson converted to reassert control for the Lady Bulldogs, who ultimately went up six points with 11:54 remaining.

“We wanted to fight to keep it close. We were aware that Bowie was not going away. They play 40 minutes,” Taylor said. “We knew we’d have to match intensity and play in the second half. I’m so proud of these women to come out and look like another team.”

The Golden Bulls held strong and received a lift when Jordan picked up her fourth foul with 5:39 to go. Brittane Neely missed both attempts at the line but Shontanette Shaw took a feed Price who corralled the offensive board to give JCSU the lead again, 57-56, with 5:39 to go. The teams changed leads four more times after that including the final time on the Quattlebaum steal and lay-in.

Bowie State turned the ball over 28 times for the game with 18 in the second half. JCSU meanwhile, committed just 16 and had 22 offensive rebounds.

“They got some easy buckets,” BSU head coach Donna Polk said. “We had some missed defensive assignments. They had some big second-chance points and some hustle points.”