JORDAN LIFTS BOWIE STATE PAST WINSTON-SALEM STATE AND INTO CIAA SEMIFINALS

JORDAN LIFTS BOWIE STATE PAST WINSTON-SALEM STATE AND INTO CIAA SEMIFINALS

CIAA’s top defensive player kickstarts Lady Bulldogs’ offense

March 1, 2011

CHARLOTTE, NC – Named the CIAA Defensive Player of the Year, Bowie State center Chanita Jordan is known for blocking a multitude of shots.

But she changed this game on offense.

Jordan (Jr., Philadelphia, PA), who averages just 8.3 points per game, scored seven in a span of 50 seconds midway through the second half in Bowie State’s decisive run to lift the Lady Bulldogs past Winston-Salem State 63-56 on Tuesday evening and into the CIAA Tournament semifinals.

Jordan finished with just two rebounds, though she did record four blocked shots – more on those in a minute -- but the 6-foot-4 junior center from Philadelphia led the No. 2 seed from the CIAA North with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Her seven points in less than a minute fueled a 13-3 Bowie State run that gave the Lady Bulldogs a 52-40 lead with 8:31 to go.

“I just had to make sure I had the right form,” said Jordan, “and fortunately, they went in today.”

But don’t think for a moment that Jordan is thinking about changing her game.

When Winston-Salem State (17-11) managed to trim the deficit under 10 points with less than 6 minutes remaining, Jordan swatted away back-to-back shots from the Lady Rams’ Jazmine Wilson (So., Raleigh, NC) deep in the paint as the Lady Bulldogs (18-9) were able to stem the Winston-Salem State comeback attempt.

“They just did what Bowie State does,” said Winston-Salem coach Stephen Joyner Jr. “They got the ball inside.”

Later, Jordan put the game on ice after she tracked down a rebound following a missed foul shot by teammate Teaunsha Robinson (Sr., Baltimore, MD), getting the ball back and burying a jumper from the elbow to make it 61-50 with 2:06 to go.

“I can’t say I was surprised by Chanita’s offense, because I know she’s capable of doing it,” said Bowie State coach Donna Polk. “Her offensive game is getting stronger, and she did a real good job today.”

Bowie State  will play either the Southern Division’s No. 1 seed Johnson C. Smith or the North’s No. 4 Chowan in the CIAA semifinals at 3 p.m. Friday.

The Lady Bulldogs opened this game on a 9-0 run, getting seven points to trigger the spurt from Robinson, an All-CIAA selection who had 10 of her 15 points in the first half. The Lady Trojans held Winston-Salem State without a score for the first 5:56 of the game until Courtney Medley (Jr., Chesapeake, VA) hit a leaner in the lane with 14:04 remaining in the first half.

Bowie State kept its edge throughout the first half of the opening period, getting a boost from Jordan, who was honored as the CIAA’s Defensive Player of the Year at the CIAA women’s awards ceremony on Sunday night. Jordan scored six points in the half’s opening minutes to nearly match Robinson, and helped Bowie State keep a 17-9 advantage at the 10-minute mark.

But Jordan was whistled for her second foul with 9:41 to go in the half, and was forced to take a seat on the bench and did not return for the rest of the period. While the Lady Bulldogs managed to hold onto the lead for the next five minutes, Winston-Salem State finally got going after a Medley 3-pointer, her second of the game.

That sparked a 12-3 Lady Rams run to close the half, with the last six points coming from three different players. The spurt, capped by Chloe Morse’s (Jr., Sumerduck, VA) short jumper in the low post, handed Winston-Salem State its first lead of the game, 26-24, as the waning seconds of the first half wound down.

Winston-Salem State extended the run to 15-3 in the first 20 seconds of the second half when Jasmine Newkirk (So., Raleigh, NC) buried her second 3, giving the Lady Rams their biggest lead at 29-24.

But Bowie State stormed back. Lakisha Walker (Sr., Baltimore, MD) scored five points and Brittney Jackson (Sr., Laurel MD) swished a 3 to spark a 13-4 Bulldogs’ spurt, handing the lead lack to Bowie State, 39-35, with 13:33 remaining in the game.

Jackson added 11 points for the Lady Bulldogs while sharing the team-high in rebounds with Robinson, who also had eight.

Medley led Winston-Salem State with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Newkirk added 11 points. Vontisha Woods (Sr., Danville, VA) had 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. All three players finished the game playing at least 37 minutes.