Shaw starts hot in win over Claflin; JC Smith, Elizabeth City advance
The Shaw women’s basketball team didn’t waste any time Tuesday morning making its presence felt at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament.
The sixth-seeded Bears sprinted out to a 15-0 lead and didn’t look back en route to a 62-49 first-round win over No. 11 Claflin in the opening game of the 2023 CIAA Tournament at CFG Bank Arena. While several Shaw players starred on offense, it was their defense that led the Bears to victory.
“It was a great, great start for us,” Shaw coach Jacques Curtis said. “For us to be able to get those stops and have the ability to score — because we’ve been in situations like that where we can stop people but we didn’t score the ball — so today we put both of them together, which gave us a lot of leeway.
“The first half we played the best basketball we could play on both sides of the ball, offense and defense.”
Shaw (16-13) held Claflin (12-14) scoreless for the first 7:02 as the Bears built a double-digit lead they would never relinquish. The Panthers were the third-highest-scoring team in the CIAA this season at 66 points per game, including an 80-76 win over Shaw in December.
“[We] needed to generate some easy baskets some type of way,” Claflin coach Terrence Jenkins said. “They were going to stay in that 2-3 zone, and we didn’t come out and get easy baskets early. They were able to get those easy baskets early to get that confidence. We didn’t get that confidence early and we fell behind.”
Sophomore Tanayja London and senior Brittiney Seymour, who were both named All-CIAA forwards Monday night, scored 16 points apiece. Sophomore Inari Jones chipped in with 12 points, while senior Makenzie Pollard, a Western High graduate, led the way during the hot start by scoring six of her eight points in the first quarter.
“Coming here last year, we didn’t expect to lose first round, but we did,” said Pollard, a senior guard. “I just feel like us coming in here today and winning means a lot to play
in front of friends and family. It’s exciting.”
Janell Horton paced Claflin with 14 points, while Nya Morris led all players with 14 rebounds.
After trailing 35-9 at halftime, the Panthers from Orangeburg, South Carolina, mounted a comeback attempt with a fierce full-court press, opening the third quarter on a 15-2 run to trail by just 12 points. But the Bears from Raleigh, North Carolina, responded by scoring seven straight points and entered the fourth up 17. Shaw senior Rita James made seven of her eight free throw attempts in the fourth to seal the victory.
Shaw will play No. 3 Winston-Salem State (15-9) in the quarterfinals Thursday at noon.
Shaniya Jones leads Johnson C. Smith women to 72-54 win over Virginia Union
Shaniya Jones led the CIAA in scoring this season, and it looked like it Tuesday afternoon.
The Johnson C. Smith star scored 17 points to help lead the eighth-seeded Golden Bulls to a 72-54 win over No. 9 seed Virginia Union in the first round of the CIAA Tournament.
“She is the backbone of our team,” Johnson C. Smith interim coach Dante Travis said. “She’s the leading scorer in this league for a reason.”
Jones, a former Division I player at Virginia Tech and Georgia, opened the game with seven points in the first quarter but slowed down in the second as neither team could find its groove on offense. The redshirt senior guard then scored 10 points in the third as the Golden Bulls began to pull away.
Jones, voted as an All-CIAA guard Monday night, averaged 16.4 points per game during the regular season and led the conference in 3-pointers made.
“Shaniya is an amazing player. She’s a three-level scorer,” Virginia Union coach Tierra Terry said. “She was going to do whatever it took for her team to win. She is so crafty, she can score in different ways, she can shoot the 3. She’s an exceptional athlete.”
Up 25-23 at halftime, Johnson C. Smith (12-15) opened the third quarter on a 19-6 run. After shooting worse than 30% from the field in the first half, the Golden Bulls went 13-for-20 (65%) in the third quarter to lead by 14 going into the fourth.
“Our adjustment was just to box out and
continue to play how we play,” Travis said about the fast start to the third quarter. “[In the first half ], we didn’t really get out and run like we like to — we’re a very up-tempo team — but we were able to show that early in the third quarter.”
Virginia Union (13-16) mounted a comeback attempt to open the final quarter, cutting its deficit to five points, but the Golden Bulls from Charlotte, North Carolina, stayed ahead thanks to sharp shooting from the free throw line.
Johnson C. Smith freshman point guard Najah Lane scored seven points in the fourth and led all players with 19 points. Forwards Tori Reid, India Howard and La’Zarea Bowens, the last two of whom were All-CIAA selections, combined to grab 33 rebounds and score 15 points for the Golden Bulls.
“When I come to the game and think about it, my mindset is just playing with my team,” Jones said. “It’s fine if anybody keys in on me, because I know I have other teammates who can score the ball.”
Junior Ny Langley, the second-leading scorer in the conference and an All-CIAA forward, led the Panthers from Richmond, Virginia, with 16 points on 8-for-24 shooting.
Johnson C. Smith will play No. 1 Fayetteville State (18-6) in the quarterfinals Thursday at 2:20 p.m.
NO. 8 JOHNSON C. SMITH 72,
NO. 9 VIRGINIA UNION 54
JCS — Lane 19, Jones 17, Bagley 8, Bowens 8, Bell 7, Reid 7, Daley-Ellis 6.
VU — Langley 16, Blackwell 9, Martinez 8, Rene 6, Johnson 6, Alston 4, Martin 3, Bevins 2.
Halftime: 25-23, JCS.
Elizabeth City women hold off Saint Augustine’s, 59-55, behind NyAsia Blango
NyAsia Blango converted a layup with just under a minute left and then converted a pair of free throws to give fifth-seeded Elizabeth City a 59-55 victory over No. 12 seed Saint Augustine’s in the first round of the CIAA Tournament.
The Vikings play fourth-seeded Bowie State, which earned a first-round bye, in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
Blango scored 21 points and was named MVP of the game.
“Going into the game, I was just thinking about what I have to do to help my team get a win,” Blango said. “Be aggressive from the jump, make sure we were shooting while open and making good decisions.”
Saint Augustine’s forward Taniyah Greene, a Riverdale Baptist graduate who led the league with a 48.1% field goal percentage and averaged 15.2 points, finished with 14 points. Falcons guard Lauren Banks, who also prepped at Riverdale Baptist and made the All-Conference team, finished with 17 points and two steals.
A layup by Isa Banks capped a 17-2 run that gave Elizabeth City its biggest lead, 47-35, with a minute remaining in the third quarter.
However, Saint Augustine’s (8-18) stormed back in the final quarter and a layup by Raquel Cassidy tied the game at 51 with 2:06 remaining. The teams traded baskets before Blango made a shot under the basket that gave Elizabeth City (18-10) a 55-54 lead with just under a minute left.
Blango then secured the win with a pair of free throws with 7.6 seconds remaining.
“We’re grateful to get out of here with a win,” Elizabeth City coach Tynesha Lewis said. “We knew that it was going to be tough. In the CIAA Tournament, everybody can play, everybody plays hard and as long as both teams do that, I know it’s going to be a battle.”
Banks scored seven points and the Falcons led 15-11 at the end of the first quarter. At that point, Elizabeth City shot just 4 of 13 from the field, including 1 of 6 from beyond the arc, and had eight turnovers.
Elizabeth City regained the lead, 20-19, on a pair of 3-pointers by Blango and another by Akyia King with 7:06 left in the half. However, Saint Augustine’s answered with five straight points by Taniyah Greene and the Falcons led, 30-27, at the break.
“This whole season, we found ourselves at times in holes and they haven’t stopped,” Saint Augustine’s coach Ebony Tanner said.