WRAL Sports Fan

ACC Tournament

CIAA women's, men's semifinals Friday

By Donal Ware

Feb 26, 2010

Women

1 p.m. Fayetteville State vs. Virginia State

Virginia State has been the best team in the CIAA during the course of the season.

The Lady Trojans easily defeated Saint Paul's 64-48 in quarterfinal action on Thursday after receiving a first-round bye.

CIAA Player of the Year Rho'Neisha Taylor shot only 5-of-14 against the Lady Tigers and must have a better performance if the Lady Trojans are to defeat the talented Lady Broncos.

Fayetteville easily handled defending tournament champion Johnson C. Smith 72-58 on Wednesday.

The Lady Broncos shot 54 percent for the game led by F Tiffany Haywood who had 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field.

Look for VSU to use its quickness against a much bigger Fayetteville State team which will try to counter their play in the post with outside three-point shooting.

3 p.m. Elizabeth City State vs. Bowie State

Elizabeth City State is a talented team, but despite defeating St. Aug's by 11 in quarterfinal action, missed numerous open lay-ups. Perhaps it was first game jitters, but that cannot happen if they hope to defeat Bowie State.

At 6'1" F Kenyatta Gill is a slasher who can present match-up problems for the Lady Bulldogs whether she in the post or shooting from outside.

Sophomore PG Kearah Jefferys (Wake Forest-Rolesville) was the key and most consistent player in the win over St. Aug's scoring 14 points and 7-of-14 shooting, while contributing three steals and protecting the basketball.

Bowie State had an emotional 44-43 victory over Shaw on Thursday morning where they trailed for most of the game. The Lady Bulldogs are playing without their best player, Teanusha Robinson, who tore her ACL last week. The Lady Bulldogs are more than capable with outstanding guards in Denita Hill and Bianca Lee (16 points against Shaw). F Juliette Turner will also be a factor in the post.

Even without Robinson, Bowie State may have the most talent of the remaining teams and has the tournament experience having played in last year's championship game, losing to Johnson C. Smith.

Men

7 p.m. Elizabeth City State vs. Shaw

Not many expected to see this match-up in the semifinals as both teams defeated a higher seed to get here.

ECSU is overachieving and had balanced scoring in the victory over Bowie State. Reserve PG Blake Price was stellar scoring 14 points while dishing out four assists.

If the Vikings are to defeat the Bears, they must get better play from G Marquie Cooke who is one of the best pure scorers in the CIAA and was only 2-of-6 from the field and scored eight points. He averaged 20 points in two losses to Shaw during the regular season.

The Bears must continue to get consistent play from Rodney Callwood in the post. He is often double-teamed, but the Bears have done a better job the last couple of weeks of getting him the ball in the right positions. There is no player in the league who has better moves in the post to create shots and he is explosive. He is averaging 21.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in two victories.

G Raheem Smith seems to be getting his stroke back, nailing 4-of-7 three-pointers against Virginia Union.

Solid play from roles players including G Michael Smith will be key for the Bears.

9 p.m. Chowan vs. Saint Augustine's

This is the best match-up of the day. In their first year in the CIAA the Chowan Hawks have surprised some. They easily knocked off two-time defending champion Johnson C. Smith 74-46 Thursday evening. All-CIAA performer Landon Morrison had 18 points and is a tough cover in the post. G Jaleel Nelson is one of the most explosive players in the league and finished with 17 points. The Hawks are an extremely talented team who don't turn the ball over a whole lot, although they turned it over 15 times against Johnson C. Smith. Saint Augustine's did not have much competition in their quarterfinal game against Livingstone. But the Falcons much shoot better than the 33 percent than they shot against Livingstone. The Big 3 of Hayward Fain, Chris Jordan and Steven Brignol must be on their game and the Falcons as a team must defend well against the Hawks who shoot 44 percent from the field. The teams split during the regular season with Chowan winning at home 72-62 two weeks ago behind Nelson's 26 points.