Anyone wondering how Bluefield State women’s basketball would set the tone for the opening game of the CIAA Tournament got their answer quickly and definitively based on how the Big Blue carried themselves through the first few possessions.
They were here to defend, agitate and cause problems.
“That’s our identity; that’s the kind of defense we’ve played the whole year,” coach Paul Davis said. “We want to keep teams on their heels and press them.”
Using relentless pressure from the opening tip, the Big Blue smothered the Bulls before pulling away for a 74-59 victory to advance to the quarterfinals.
“It’s one and done,” junior Jasmine Jenkins said. “I’m not trying to go home.”
The Big Blue pounced as they forced turnovers on each of the first four Bulls possessions, setting the tone for what would be a frustrating half for Johnson C. Smith, which finished the half with almost as many turnovers (20) as points (22).
The defense turned into easy offense and transition opportunities as Jenkins, an All-CIAA frontcourt selection, had her double-double wrapped up early in the first half. She finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds.
“This whole season, I’ve been playing against the biggest people,” said Jenkins, who is listed at just 5-foot-8. “I just have a mentality that absolutely no one is going to stop me.”
The Bulls adjusted in the third, mounting a small comeback and cutting the lead to four, but Davis was able to deploy another signature staple of his program: senior leadership.
Binford, one of seven seniors on the roster, led the charge, responding to every Bulls basket with one of her own, scoring 14 of her game-high 24 points in the second half.
“I was surprised when she hit those two 3s,” Davis said. “But she came in and did what I expect all my seniors to do: play hard and play smart.”
With the stress of playing the tournament’s opening game gone, the Big Blue can now turn their attention to the conference’s toughest test — defending champion and No. 1 overall seed Fayetteville State. Davis is not only looking forward to another upset victory but also another chance to put his school on everyone’s radar.
“A lot of people don’t know about little Bluefield State in West Virginia,” he said. “Every time we win a basketball game, it forces them to look us up and see what we’re really about.”
No. 3 Claflin women outlast No. 6 Elizabeth City State, 50-39
Even an off day for Nya Morris was plenty for the Panthers (15-10), who picked up their fourth victory in the last five games and moved on to Thursday’s quarterfinal against No. 2 seed Virginia Union (20-6) at noon.
Morris, a senior shooting guard and the CIAA Player of the Year who led the conference in points per game (20.0) and field-goal percentage (.490), paced Claflin with a game-high 16 points, but made just 6 of 18 shots (1 of 6 from 3-point range) to get there. The league’s second-leading steals artist did register a game-best five swipes, but acknowledged she had to avoid feeling frustrated by her play.
“It’s really hard,” she said. “But my team just does a good job of staying positive and making sure that we just stay together and pick each other up.”
Morris was aided by her teammates. Graduate student shooting guard Janelle Sample amassed nine points and six rebounds and senior point guard Jasmyn Jefferies contributed eight points, four rebounds and two steals.
Much like their 57-42 victory over the Vikings on Dec. 19, the Panthers distanced themselves from Elizabeth City State in the second quarter. Two months after outscoring the Vikings, 11-6, in the second period, Claflin overwhelmed Elizabeth City State, 21-11, in the frame and enjoyed a 33-17 advantage at halftime.
“We started out fast, and we did a good job in the first half,” coach Terrence Jenkins said. “Then I felt like in the second half, we kind of fell off a little bit, but we did enough to advance.”
Senior center Rashauna Grant, the Vikings’ leader in scoring (9.5 points per game) and rebounding (8.3), finished with six points on 3 of 8 shooting and a game-high 11 rebounds, but fouled out with 5:46 left in the game. Senior shooting guard Vanessa Schwarzmann, the team’s leader in 3-pointers (41), scored just three points on a 1 of 7 display from long distance, and Elizabeth City State (8-17) ended its season on a four-game losing streak.
“We got the ball in the spaces where people could be successful,” coach Ebony Tanner said. “Unfortunately, we weren’t successful today.”
— Edward Lee
No. 5 Lincoln women hold off No. 4 Shaw, 54-49
The opening-round game for Lincoln University sophomore Riley Holliday didn’t start well, as she left her basketball shoes on the bus, prompting her teammate, Taylor Brown, to retrieve them for her. When Brown returned, she relayed a message from their bus driver, Paul. He requested Holliday not begin the game slowly, especially after he walked a long distance to the hotel to grab her shoes.
Holliday, a Baltimore native, said she felt bad at first, but once her first basket went in, she loosened up. She finished with a career-high 14 points to help fifth-seeded Lincoln University hold off No. 4 seed Shaw University, 54-49, at CFG Bank Arena.
Both teams started slowly, only combining for 12 points in the first quarter, but later found a rhythm in the second. Lincoln went up by as many as 11 points, before Shaw went on a 9-0 run, cutting the deficit to three at halftime.
“I think our team did a good job of being able to overcome that early slow start and just kind of push and play our brand of uptempo [basketball],” Lincoln coach Janice Washington said.
Holliday finished the game going 7 of 10 from the field and grabbing five rebounds.
All-CIAA frontcourt selection, Anyssa Fields, came alive in the second half. She scored 16 out of her 18 points after halftime and finished one rebound shy of a double-double. Fields credits lessons from the regular season — she said she’s experienced low-scoring first halves multiple times during the year — in helping her push through and finish the game with 18 points.
“It’s really just me not overthinking things and knowing that I have to lead my team,” she said. “And taking the responsibility and just playing my game.”
Despite Lincoln attempting to create separation, Shaw stayed close, trimming the deficit to two with around four minutes left in the game.
Shaw coach Jacques Curtis said he wouldn’t change anything regarding their game plan but early turnovers and missed shots proved costly. Shaw had 10 turnovers in the first half, slightly limiting them in the second. The Lady Bears totaled 18 turnovers and forced 17, only scoring nine points off them.
“We were fortunate we didn’t dig a deep hole, it was a small hole that we knew we could climb out of because we’ve been in much larger holes throughout the season,” he said.
Lincoln advances to the next round to face Northern Division No.1 seed Virginia State on Wednesday. Lincoln is 0-2 against Virginia State this season, losing both by close margins. The Lions lost by five points in their matchup in January and three points in the most recent battle on Feb. 8.
“What we have to do is just manage our expectations and be ready to fight,” Washington said.
— Shaela Foster
Bowie State women erase 20-point deficit
Destiny Ryles knew this was her chance to play in the hometown spotlight. She made sure she didn’t waste it.
The senior, a graduate of Lutherville’s St. Paul’s, scored 37 points to lead the Bulldogs to a 64-54 victory over Winston-Salem State. The Bulldogs trailed by 20 points, 23-3, with 3:12 left in the first quarter before beginning their comeback.
“We started off slow,” Bowie State coach Shadae Swan (St. Frances) said. “In spite of their record, they’re a very scrappy team. I told our players that in the tournament, it’s not the best team that wins, but the team that plays the hardest.”
“It’s a great feeling to play in front of family and friends,” Ryles said. “We came out today to prove everybody in the CIAA wrong.”
At one point in the third quarter, Ryles scored 10 straight points to lead off the period. She showed everyone in the arena why she was the second-leading scorer in the CIAA regular season this year.
The Bulldogs began to switch up their defense in the second quarter, switching between man-to-man and zone. Gradually, the adjustments on defense and Ryles penetrating on offense cut into the lead. Bowie State cut the lead to five at the halftime break, 31-26.
“We just had to play defense,” Swan said. “I knew when we cut it to 10 that we’d be fine.”
The Bulldogs kept chipping away at the deficit in the third quarter and finally caught the Rams (6-20, 3-14) at 42-42 on a layup by freshman Kristin Sterling (Pikesville) with just under three minutes left in the third quarter.
From then on, it was all Bulldogs. Bowie went on a 12-4 run in the later part of the third quarter and early in the fourth to put the game away.
The victory avenges a loss to Winston-Salem State that ended Bowie’s season last year. The Bulldogs (18-11, 12-5) will now face Livingstone in the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. on Thursday. Christiana McLean had 23 points for the Rams.
When asked what propelled the Bulldogs to mount their impressive comeback, Ryles summed it up well.
“We just weren’t ready to go home tonight,” she said.
— Mike Frainie for The Baltimore Sun
No. 5 Bowie State men hang on to beat No. 4 Livingstone, 68-64
After building what seemed like an insurmountable first-half lead in Tuesday night’s CIAA Tournament opener, the Bowie State men’s basketball team experienced one of its coldest stretches of the season.
But after surrendering an 18-point lead to Livingstone College, the Bulldogs managed to warm up just in time.
Point guard Elijah Davis (St. Frances) scored a game-high 27 points, helping Bowie survive a stretch in which it scored just four points in a span of 15:30 in a 68-64 win at CFG Bank Arena to advance to Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
“Today was just like a war of attrition,” Bowie coach Darrell Brooks said. “I thought we were the tougher team the last four minutes of the game. We pressed them, we turned them over, we made free throws, we did the things we had to do to win the game.”
Bowie seemingly couldn’t miss during the first 15 minutes, building a 39-21 lead with Davis scoring 18 in the half on 7-for-7 shooting. But Livingstone, from Salisbury, North Carolina, used defense to slowly get back into it, forcing several turnovers during a 20-4 run, then taking a 51-50 lead on a pair free throws by guard Jamal Cannady (20 points) with 5:58 left.
In the final minutes, however, the Bulldogs regained their composure, pressuring the ball, forcing turnovers and making free throws to seal the win.
“It was going to be who’s the tougher team,” Davis said. “The last four minutes of any game is when you have to be the toughest. That’s what we focused on.”
Bowie (16-13), the No. 5 seed in the North, advances in the tournament to face Virginia State, the top seed in the North, Wednesday at 6:40. Forward Amare Winbush also scored 14 for the Bulldogs, who scored 21 points from the free-throw line.
Livingstone (12-16), the No. 4 seed in the South, went 0-for-10 from 3-point range.
— Rich Scherr
This article will be updated throughout the day as more games wrap up. Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Tim Schwartz at timschwartz@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/timschwartz13.