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Monday, February 24, 2003
Lady Golden Bulls Come Back to Win CIAA Opener
FEBRUARY 24, 2003, Raleigh, NC---The Lady Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University like to make things interesting when they play in the first round of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament.
The Lady Golden Bulls trailed by double digits in 2002 before coming back in overtime to win, and they opened the 28th CIAA Women's Basketball Tournament in 2003 by coming back from a double-digit deficit to ease by the Lady Vikings of Elizabeth City State University, 79-72.
"Our ladies in the second half had a good spurt and we had good minutes from our players off the bench. Our defensive pressure got our ladies rolling," said Lady Golden Bulls head coach Vanessa Taylor.
The Lady Golden Bulls (16-11) trailed by 12 with 13 and a half minutes to go. A Lauren Goss layup with seven and a half minutes capped a 17-3 run as they took a 55-53 lead. Brandi Young scored six of her 14 points during that time.
The teams would battle back and forth until a Joi Surratt 3-pointer gave the Lady Golden Bulls a 67-63 lead at the 4:01 mark. Her jumper at 2:45 would stretch the lead to 69-63 and give the Lady Golden Bulls the cushion they would need the rest of the way.
The Lady Vikings (9-17) had done a good job of keeping Surratt in check for most of the game, but she scored nine of her 20 points in the game's last four minutes. She kept herself in the game before that by dishing out 9 assists.
"In the second half it was time for me to step up," said Surratt. Goss was part of the tandem that the Lady Vikings couldn't control as she scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds. Terri Edwards scored 11 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as the Lady Golden Bulls won the battle of the boards, 45-35.
"I was pleased with how we played most of the game," said LadyVikings head coach Fred Batchelor, II. "They (JCSU) played well enough to win the game."
Lady Vikings' center Hope Riddick held her own against the bigger Lady Golden Bulls as she powered her way to an 18-point, 13-rebound effort.
Both teams went on runs in the first half to lead by as many as five points. The Lady Vikings had not scored in the last four minutes of the first half, but opened with a 16-3 run in the second half to take a 42-34 lead with 16 minutes to play.
Freshman Venkia Jones scored eight of her 13 points during the run. Sheneka Ellis helped keep the Lady Vikings in the game with three 3-pointers and 12 points off the bench.