Virginia State Women Take Down Livingstone, 57-45, In Opening Round of CIAA Tournament
Jolisa Williams contributed to this story
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The No. 5 seeded Virginia State University Trojans connected 20-of-43 shots for 47-percent from the field to defeat the No. 4 seeded Lady Blue Bears of Livingstone College (13-14), 57-45 during the opening round of the 2020 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women's Basketball Tournament on Tuesday afternoon inside the Bojangles Coliseum.
With the win, VSU improves to 10-19 overall and will advance to face the No. 1 seed out of the North, Virginia Union University on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 4:30 p.m. at the Bojangles Coliseum.
Virginia State jumped out to an 8-0 run in the opening quarter until Livingstone finally got on the scoreboard with a jumper from Daijah Turner. The Lady Blue Bears closed the gap to four points on a 4-2 run, but the Trojans responded when Autumn Hopson converted on a 3-point play before LC's Adel Allen drained a 3-pointer to give the Trojans a 13-9 lead at the end of the period.
Although the Lady Blue Bears scored the second quarter's first basket, the Trojans grew a nine-point lead capped off by a jumper from Natalia Leaks at the 4:49 mark but Livingstone found the hot hand, scoring back-to-back 3-pointers to close their gap to three (20-17). In the first half's final 2:00, the Trojans scored the last four points to take a 24-17 stand over Livingstone at halftime.
LC got within four points early on in the third quarter, but Virginia State's offense continued to flourish as the Trojans outscored the Lady Blue Bears 16-9, highlighted by 46-percent shooting from the field (6-13) and 3-of-3 from long distance. VSU would own a 40-26 stand heading into the fourth period.
The Lady Blue Bears trailed by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter before cutting the Trojans lead eight points (52-44) with 2:21 left. However, the Trojans offensive momentum never wavered down the stretch as VSU closed out the game with a 5-2 spread for the 57-43 win.
LC's Daisa Harris led all scorers with 21 points and five rebounds while Leaks finished with 17 points and seven rebounds to lead VSU. Additionally, Turner finished with 16 points and seven rebounds to round out the double figure scorers in the contest.
