Bowie State Women's Basketball Advances to CIAA Championship Finals with 53-49 Victory over Virginia State

Charlotte, N.C. (March 2, 2018) – The scrappy No. 3 Seed in the Northern Division Bowie State University Bulldogs dethroned the No. 2 Northern Division Virginia State University Trojans, 53-49 Friday afternoon in the Spectrum Center during the semi-finals of the 2018 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament. The Bulldogs will face the Virginia Union University Panthers in the Championship game on Saturday (3/3) at 1 p.m. 

Chrisanna Green added the opening seven points knocking down two jumpers and a three-pointer within the first 3:27 to give the Trojans a quick 7-3 lead. Bowie State closed the gap with three-pointers off the fingertips of Kyah Proctor and Kiara Colston but VSU would go on a 6-2 run to close out the quarter, 13-8.

Although, Virginia State outscored the Bulldogs (10-2) with points in the paint, (6-5) points off turnovers, and (3-0) in second chance points; BSU held the edge (2-0) in fast break points and (2-0) in bench points.

A back-and-forth struggle for either team to keep the momentum throughout the second quarter, a Talanya Hutton jumper with 8:07 remaining ignited a 12-7 run for Bowie State to give the game its first tie, 20-20 at the 5:07 mark.

The Trojans closed out the half adding nine points to take a 29-24 lead into the locker room. Virginia State led by as much as eight during the half where it outscored the Bulldogs (18-14) in points in the paint, (8-7) in points off turnovers, and (4-2) in bench points; while Bowie State held the edge in fast break points (2-0) and (11-7) in bench points.

BSU was held to only 33.3 percent (10-of-30) shooting from the field, 33.3 percent (3-of-9) shooting from downtown, and 100 percent (1-of-1) shooting from the foul line; while the Trojans shot 48 percent (12-of-25) from the floor, 28.6 percent (2-of-7) from behind the arc, and 50 percent (3-of-6) from the candy stripe. VSU’s Chrisanna Green led all scorers at the half with 15 points; while BSU’s Kiara Colston tallied 10 points, respectively.     

Coming out of the half, the Trojans led by as much as eleven points at the 8:19 mark in the third quarter, but once again, the Bulldogs would keep their poise and end the quarter on a 14-9 run with VSU taking a two-point lead (40-38) lead into the fourth.

Continuing with the momentum, Bowie State grabbed its first lead of the contest with 3:15 remaining in the contest, (47-46). The game saw its second tie at the 2:05 remaining (49-49) before BSU’s Kiara Colston connected on the eventual game-winning three-pointer with .08 remaining, providing the 53-49 final.

The Bulldogs capped the contest shooting 32.2 percent (19-of-59) from the field, 43.8 percent (7-of-16) from downtown, and 88.9 percent (8-of-9) from the foul line; while the Trojans closed the game out shooting 43.5 percent (20-of-46) from the floor, 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from behind the arc, and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from the candy stripe.

Virginia State would claim the points in the paint advantage (26-24) but was outscored (23-10) in the points off turnovers category, (6-5) second chance points, (4-0) fast break points, and (19-7) bench points for the game.

VSU’s Chrisanna Green led the Trojans recording a double-double, 20 points (9-of-13) and 12 boards while Kiara Colston carried the Bulldogs with 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting.