WRAL Sports Fan

College Basketball

WBB: Shaw suffers defeat in first round of CIAA Tournament

Feb 26, 2009

For only the second time in seven years, the Lady Bears of Shaw University won’t be in the big CIAA championship dance. In their first game of the 2009 CIAA Tournament, the Lady Bears (14-13) faced off against the Lady Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University (17-10) and lost in the battle under fire 66-74. Ironically, the Bears defeated JCSU in both games of the regular season.

Taking on the #3 seed, Shaw (#6 Seed) faced the finalists of the 2008 championship game in their first round of play. KeyAuna Jenkins (Cleveland, OH) pushed up a 3 pointer to put the Bears on the board. With 10 minutes to play in the half, the Bears were down 16-7 following a lay-up by Jan’el Baxter (Raleigh, NC). Substitutions were made by the bench to try to get a consistent formula for the Bears; nerves seem to have caused inconsistent play and errors in the first half for the Bears A technical foul was assessed to the Shaw bench placing Wendy Stywalt on the line for the Golden Bulls; she hit both shots and they went up 21-7 with 9:00 on the clock.

Jessica Davis (Cleveland, OH) barreled inside for a lay-up and drew the foul; she missed the extra point. With the clock ticking towards the half, the Bears were down 23-13. Tanisha McGaughey (Norfolk, VA) dropped a 3 pointer followed by a lay-up by Baxter to decrease the gap 20-25. JCSU widened a 10 point gap over the Bears at the half; 36-26. Davis led with 6 points for the Bears followed by Baxter, Andrus and Jackson all with 4 points each. Andrus led with 5 rebounds on the defensive side of the ball. JCSU shot 92.9% from the free throw line hitting 13-14. The Bears shot 66.7% hitting 6-9.

The second half got underway. The Bulls pulled away by 10 with 14:20 on the clock for a 42-32 score. The momentum shifted and senior leader Celanese Bozeman (Hampton, VA) hit her first 3 pointer of the game and the Bears were within 3 points. She followed up with a basket and drew the foul; 3 point play good. Bears were down 42-45. Clearly her half, Bozeman scored another 3 pointer and the bench called the timeout; Shaw 51-55. Guess what? She did it again. McGaughey scored the lay-up and the Bears were down 56-57 with 4:40 on the clock. Bozeman was assessed a technical foul as she was also fouled; she went to the line from the hard foul and scored both baskets and the Bears were down 58-61 with 3:40 to go. She hit another basket for two. A turn of events on the court changed the direction for JCSU and they built a small lead as the clock expired; winning 74-66.

The Shaw Family salutes the seniors of this team; Bozeman, Davis, Jenkins and Rebecca Hyppolite (Montreal, Quebec) for their hard work, dedication and commitment to the Shaw athletic program. They are members of the dynasty that reined five of the last six years; no other CIAA team can claim the same.

The men’s basketball team will face JCSU on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in their first game of the Tournament.