NyAsia Blango has been here before. Thanks to her efforts, the Elizabeth City State women will go there again.
The graduate student scored 18 points, with most of them coming in the first half, to lead the Vikings to a 70-58 win over Claflin in the semifinals of the CIAA Tournament at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena.
Elizabeth City State (10-10, 12-7), which never trailed in the game, will defend the title it won last season against either Virginia State or Fayetteville State in Saturday’s 1 p.m. championship game.
Claflin was led by Nya Morris’ nine points.
The Vikings looked dominant early on, using a 3-pointer by Blango to run out to a 10-4 lead with 5:11 left in the first quarter. Elizabeth City State expanded the lead to 11 at 21-10 with 7:58 left in the first half by playing aggressively on the boards.
Claflin (18-11, 11-9) mounted a bit of a challenge late in the first half, using a layup by Myla Lee to cut the margin to eight at 28-20 with 3:31 left in the half. The Panthers even cut it to six, 32-26, on a lay-in by Janelle Sample with 45 seconds left, before a shot at the buzzer by Ja’Nia Thompson gave the Vikings a 34-26 halftime lead. Blango led the Vikings with 11 points at the break.
ECSU pushed the lead to 12 at 47-35 with two free throws by Rasheka Simmons with 3:37 left in the third quarter. Claflin again made a small run to cut the score to 53-44 entering the fourth quarter.
The Panthers managed to do a better job on Blango, particularly in the fourth quarter, but Claflin could only cut the lead to seven, 61-54, with 2:31 before the Vikings put the game away down the stretch.
“This is her time of year,” Vikings coach Tynesha Lewis said of Blango. “She really locks in, and she did pretty much everything.”
Lewis pointed to Elizabeth City State’s 78-51 loss at Claflin on Dec. 16 as a turning point for her team.
“We just decided to come to this game,” Lewis said. “It was definitely a 180 from that day. We were focused and determined and [they] believed in themselves and got it done.”
When asked if the Vikings want to win this title as much as the last one, Lewis didn’t hesitate.
“Someone once asked Tom Brady which ring was his favorite,” Lewis said. “His answer was ‘the next one’. I’m always looking forward to the next one.”
— Mike Frainie, for The Baltimore Sun
Wire-to-wire win for Fayetteville State women
The Fayetteville State women continue to rewrite history.
Senior shooting guard Aniylah Bryant did not miss a shot en route to scoring a game-high 31 points, and the Broncos led wire-to-wire to earn their program-record 26th victory in an 86-61 trouncing of Virginia State in the second of two CIAA Tournament semifinals Friday night at CFG Bank Arena.
Fayetteville State, the No. 1 seed from the South Division, improved to 26-2, breaking a tie with the 1996-97 squad that went 25-5, lost to Bowie State in the CIAA Tournament final and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. The current group also extended its winning streak to 12 and has not suffered a loss since Jan. 20, when Johnson C. Smith emerged with a 63-53 win.
“Came out and played,” Broncos interim coach Tyreece Brown said. “Stepped up to the challenge. … Through all year, we’ve been fighting through adversity and we played our best when our backs are against the wall. So I’m proud of this group.”
Virginia State (23-5), the No. 2 seed from the North Division, was simply overwhelmed by Fayetteville State’s offensive muscle. The Broncos connected on 55% of their attempts (33 of 60) with four players shooting 50% or better, including a perfect performance from Bryant (11 of 11). Bryant, who drained all five 3-point attempts she took, missed only from the free-throw line, where she went 4 of 6.
“My teammates put me in position,” she said. “I want to give a shout-out to my coach for helping me build my confidence. And like I said about my teammates, I couldn’t do it without them believing in me and getting me the ball.”
Sophomore point guard Talia Trotter, an Ellicott City native and Marriotts Ridge graduate, dished out a game-high 13 assists to go along with seven points and three rebounds. Fayetteville State finished with 25 assists on their 33 field goals and outscored the Trojans, 42-20, in the paint and 21-10 on fastbreaks.
“I had to be a facilitator against Virginia State because they’re a good defensive team,” said Trotter, who couldn’t recall the last time she had 13 assists in a game. “So just getting open looks for my teammates and open looks for everybody, I just knew that was my job on the floor today, and I’m planning on doing that tomorrow.”
Graduate student power forward Tanayja London, a Shaw transfer, paced Virginia State with 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Junior power forward Amesha Miller amassed 15 points, seven rebounds and two steals, and junior shooting guard Mekayla Furman came off the bench to compile 10 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The result sets up a title game Saturday at 1 p.m. of the two top-seeded teams in the conference. The Broncos will face Elizabeth City State, the reigning tournament champion and No. 1 seed in the North Division. The Vikings (20-10) took care of Claflin, the No. 2 seed in the South Division, in the first semifinal.
Bryant wasn’t content with the team reaching the final.
“We’re on a business trip,” Bryant said. “We’ve got one more game to go.”
— Edward Lee
Lincoln men return to title game
Lincoln University men’s coach Jason Armstrong made no bones about what his team goal was when he opened his postgame news conference.
“We told you last year that we’d be back,” Armstrong said. “We’re not here to walk away with the second-place trophy this year. We are here to win a championship. That was our goal.”
The Lions will indeed get to play for that championship again after losing in it last season, but Claflin made sure it wouldn’t be an easy ride to the title game.
Lincoln built a large lead in the first half and then hung on at the end to defeat Claflin, 58-52, in a CIAA Tournament semifinal at CFG Bank Arena.
Reggie Hudson led the Lions with 14 points, while John Whitehead III led Claflin (18-10, 14-6) with 10.
Lincoln (17-13, 12-7) will face either Fayetteville State or Virginia Union in Saturday’s 4 p.m. final.
The Lions came out like a house on fire, both on the offensive and defensive ends. Lincoln shot over 50% while building up an early lead, while the defense forced quick and off-the-mark shots. The Lions held the Panthers scoreless for 5:13 in the middle of the half while stretching a 17-11 lead to 26-11 with 7:47 left.
Claflin began to respond toward the end of the half, and a few more shots began to fall. Still, the Panthers found themselves trailing 35-23 at the break. Lincoln ended the half shooting 42% from the field while holding Claflin to only 27%.
Both teams started the second half off sluggish but gradually Claflin started to claw its way back into the game. Trailing 47-37, Jailen Williams hit a layup and was fouled. After he made his free throw, the Panthers trailed 47-40 with 7:38 left. After Lincoln’s Ethan Garita hit a jumper to widen the margin to 49-40, the Panthers went on a 7-2 run to cut the score to 51-47 with 5:30 left.
Claflin finally tied the game at 52 on a layup by Williams with 2:32 left, but the Lions took the lead back just 18 seconds later when Reggie Hudson hit a jumper. On the ensuing offensive possession for Claflin, Lincoln’s Peter Sorber had a huge block on Williams, and the Lions made their free throws down the stretch for the win.
Hudson said that while the win was great, there’s still some unfinished business left.
“We’re glad to be back, but the job is not done,” he said. “We’re trying to make history. No team from Lincoln has ever won this title. We’re going to do it.”
— Mike Frainie, for The Baltimore Sun
This story will be updated.