BOWIE, Md. – Bowie State University women’s basketball overcame a 19-point deficit and rallied to defeat Winston-Salem State University 54-52 on Saturday (12/31) afternoon. The win, Bowie State’s eighth in a row, improves the Bulldogs record to an impressive 11-2 overall and a perfect 3-0 in CIAA play.
The Bulldogs defense held the Rams to just four fourth quarter points while scoring a game-high 22 points in the decisive quarter. Junior Kyah Proctor (Capital Heights, Md.) came off the bench for the first time this season and led the Bulldogs in scoring with 17 points to go along with six rebounds. Senior Denver Clyde (Glen Burnie, Md.) fell just short of a double-double, contributing 11 points and nine rebounds.
Bowie State junior Kiara Colston (Burtonsville, Md.) recorded nine points followed by junior Lisa Jing (Laurel, Md.) and freshman Kyaja Williams (Baltimore, Md.) with six and five points respectively. Junior Pere Alexander (Baltimore, Md.) tallied four points and five rebounds while sophomore Lea Whitehead rounded out the Bulldogs scorers with two points.
Winston-Salem State (5-7, 1-1 CIAA) was led in scoring by seniors Taylor Boyd (Saint Louis, Mo.) and Jasmine Carter (Lexington, N.C.) with 12 and 10 points respectively. Senior Trei Torain (Roxboro, N.C.) hauled down a team-high rebounds and Boyd pulled down seven rebounds in the loss.
The Rams led 13-6 after one quarter and went into halftime with a 31-17 advantage over the Bulldogs and shot 59.1 percent from the field (13-of-22) in the first 20 minutes of action. Compare that to Bowie State’s frigid 20 percent first half shooting (7-of-35).
The Bulldogs used a 12-8 third quarter run, trimming the deficit to ten points (39-29) by the 3:08 mark. However, the Rams closed the third quarter with a 10-3 run to take a 48-32 lead into the final quarter.
Bowie State closed the gap back to ten (50-40) with 6:23 remaining in the game and really began to put the clamps on the Rams. A layup by WSSU’s Carter at the 4:49 mark would be the final points for the visitors with the Rams holding a 52-43 lead.
The Lady Bulldogs closed out the final 4:49 with an 11-0 run to snatch a huge victory over the Rams. A pair of free throws and a layup by Clyde closed the margin to 52-47 with 1:58 on the A.C. Jordan Arena clock. Colston sank two free throws and back-to-back layups by Williams, shifted the advantage over to Bowie State for the very first time all afternoon at 53-52 with 27 seconds left in the game. Colston added one final free throw to account for the final margin.
Bowie State women’s basketball hits the road for its next three games, starting with a Saturday (January 14th) conference clash at Saint Augustine’s University. Game time for the Bulldogs and Lady Falcons is 5:30 p.m.
