IT'S ON
Tournament Pairings
Women's Bracket
Men's Bracket
28th Annual CIAA Women’s Basketball Tournament
Friday, March 1, 2002
Defending Champs Ousted
RALEIGH, NC – The last woman coach to win the championship game of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Women’s Basketball Tournament was Virginia State’s Bertha Cummings back in 1990. Virginia State University Trojanettes’ coach Peggy Davis will have a shot at being the next.
Virginia State took advantage of poor shooting by Fayetteville State to knock the defending champs out of the 2002 CIAA Tournament. FSU finished the game making just 18 of 67 field goal attempts (26.9%).
With 1:00 remaining in the game and VSU leading 53-51 the Broncos forced VSU into committing their 27th turnover and fouled Timeka Lawson to send her to the line for two free throws. Lawson was only able to make one to cut the lead to 53-52. Ronmia Bess was fouled on the Trojanettes’ next two possessions down the floor and hit 4-for-4 from the line to seal the game with a 57-52 win.
“We feel like our players worked extremely hard for every point,” said VSU coach Peggy Davis. “Our team put a lot of effort into this game and our ladies deserve to be in the championship game.”
The Trojanettes (19-9) will now play in Saturday’s 5 p.m. championship game against the winner of today’s contest between Winston-Salem State University’s Lady Rams and the Lady Eagles of North Carolina Central University.
The Lady Broncos (20-8) tied the ballgame at 28 when Opal Johnson hit a shot at the 16:24 mark. Tiffany Thomas came right back with a three-pointer from the top of the arc to start a 8-0 run to put the Trojanettes back in front 36-28 with 10:56 remaining.
Tonya Bowman snapped a 6-minute Bronco cold spell by knocking down two free throws as her team began to claw back into the contest down 38-34 at the 8:33 mark.
VSU dominated the Lady Broncos on the glass 51-37. Becky McKee led the team by collecting a game-high 19 rebounds with 10 points.
Thomas led all scorers with 21 points as she shot 6-for-13 from the floor. Ronmia Bess dished out 9 assists and hit the game sealing free throws down the stretch.
Tonya Bowman led the Lady Broncos by shooting 5-for-8 from the field for 12 points. Danielle Evans and Crissy Marsh scored 10 points each.
The Trojanettes got off to a 7-0 start and looked like they were going to have their way with the CIAA defending champions. VSU was able to get second chance opportunities by patrolling the offensive. The team shot a chilling 0-for-15 from beyond the arc.
Despite poor shooting, the Lady Broncos were able to remain within striking distance as the Trojanettes committed 16 first half turnovers. A Danielle Evans floater in the lane cut the lead to 16-14 at the 5:17 mark. VSU closed out the first half with two trips to the free throw line to head into intermission up 24-20.