More history was made to begin Thursday’s CIAA Tournament at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore.
Led by senior guard Nya Morris, Claflin women’s basketball rolled to a 71-45 win over Shaw to reach the conference semifinals for the first time in school history.
Morris posted a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore forward Ashari Lewis added 15 points and redshirt sophomore forward Leigha Harris chipped in 13 points to lead the Panthers (17-10), who will meet defending champion Elizabeth City State on Friday at noon.
Along with Morris’ dominant performance, Claflin’s defensive effort was key. The Panthers, who hail from Orangeburg, South Carolina, forced 22 turnovers and held the Bears (14-15) to 32.8% shooting from the field. Morris recorded four of Claflin’s 11 steals, while junior forward Leigha Harris added two blocks.
Senior forward Alexis Radcliff scored 13 points and junior guard Elisha Quinn added 11 for Shaw, which beat Virginia Union in overtime to reach the quarterfinals.
Claflin men hold on, reach semifinals
In their two previous meetings this year, Claflin coach Brion Dunlap didn’t like how his men’s team played on the offensive glass against Virginia State.
The Panthers (17-9, 14-5) cleaned that up in a big way Thursday afternoon, enjoying an 11-4 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 16-4 advantage in second-chance points to defeat the Trojans, 75-69, in the quarterfinals of the CIAA Tournament at CFG Bank Arena.
Claflin was led by Jailen Williams’ 23 points. Kendall Bynum led Virginia State with 19.
“[Our other games against them] were battles on the glass,” Dunlap said. “I knew we had to compete there if we wanted to win. Our guys made a great effort to go and get the ball.”
Claflin advances to Friday semifinals, where they will meet Lincoln University at 2 p.m.
The Panthers led almost the entire game, taking a 5-3 lead just three minutes after the opening tip that they never relinquished. Claflin eventually built to the lead to 14 with 14:01 left in the second half, but Virginia State gradually chipped away.
The Trojans (15-15, 8-10) used a jumper off a steal by Bynum to cut the margin to 70-67 with 55 seconds left, but the Panthers tightened their defense and, despite missing several free throws in the final minute, hung on for the win.
“We have some things we need to clean up at the end of the game, but it was a great team win,” Dunlap said. “Survive and advance, that’s what we did.”
For Virginia State, coach Lonnie Blow Jr. said another slow start was part of what doomed the Trojans. They fell behind 15-0 in their opening round game against Johnson C Smith, and although it was closer Thursday, they were usually playing from behind.
“Tough day for us,” Blow said. “We got off to a poor start [again] and you just can’t keep doing that in tournament play. You’ve got to be ready at the start of the game so you’re not playing uphill. We fought all night and we had a chance at the end. That’s just the way the ball bounces sometimes.”
— Mike Frainie, for The Baltimore Sun
Virginia State women rally to stun Johnson C. Smith
Virginia State women’s coach Nadine Domond likes to tell her team that defense wins games. That was never more true than in Thursday’s CIAA Tournament quarterfinal.
Down by as many as 11 points near the end of the third quarter, the Trojans used pressure defense to flip the game, forcing turnover after turnover in the fourth quarter and outscoring Johnson C. Smith 18-2 over the final 6:11 in a 51-42 win at CFG Bank Arena.
“I think our defense is our offense,” Domond said. “We’ve been saying it all year. I think defense wins games and rebounds wins championships. The ability to execute on both ends is what we needed to take care of.”
Guard Mihjae Hayes scored a game-high 21 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, and forward Amesha Miller added 14 points and seven rebounds, with much of their offense coming off 28 forced turnovers. It was a complete turnaround for the Trojans, who had been outscored 13-0 to start the third quarter.
“Basketball is a game of runs at the end of the day,” Hayes said. “We just stuck together. We told each other, ‘We’ve got this. We’re down right now, but we’ve still got 10 more minutes to play.’ We just kept fighting until the end. The game ain’t over until there’s zero on the clock.”
Virginia State (23-4) advances to Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal against Fayetteville State. The winner of that game advances to Saturday’s 1 p.m. final, with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament on the line.
Fayetteville State handed the Trojans one of their four losses when the teams met in December.
Forwards Kelis Coleman (13 points) and Ashlei Kirven (10 points, 18 rebounds) led Johnson C. Smith (14-13), which had taken the Trojans to overtime in an early January loss.
This looked like anyone’s game after an uneven first half, but Smith seemingly took control to start the third quarter. Virginia State went 0-for-6 with four turnovers to start the half and went scoreless for the first 5:24 of the third quarter.
In the final quarter, however, the Trojans dominated.
“This game really showed that we never give up,” Miller said. “We were down but we kept pushing, and we came out with the win.”
— Rich Scherr, for The Baltimore Sun
This story will be updated.