RALEIGH, N.C. – Saint Augustine's College capitalized off turnovers by Johnson C. Smith University for an easy 71-54 CIAA women's basketball victory on Thursday (Jan. 28) at Emery Gymnasium.
The Lady Golden Bulls (14-5 overall, 7-5 CIAA, 1-1 Western Division) entered the contest ranked 10th in the Atlantic Region and tied for first in the Western Division, but were no match for the Lady Falcons (11-7 overall, 7-4 CIAA, 1-0 Western Division), who scored 23 points off 17 Lady Golden Bulls' turnovers.
The Lady Falcons flexed their defensive muscle, recording 11 steals which led to many fastbreak layups. LeKiesha White (Jr./Richmond, Va.) led the way with four steals and Jolisa Williams (So./Charles City, Va.), Allison Sikes (Jr./Richmond, Va.) and Crystal McCaffity (Jr./Havelock, N.C.) added two steals apiece.
White also led five Lady Falcons in double figures with 15 points followed by Keyona Bryant (So./Springdale, Md.) with 14 points and eight rebounds. Sikes, Ariel Brown (Jr./Cherry Hill, N.J.) and McCaffity each added 11 points for the Lady Falcons, who shot 53 percent from the floor. It is the third-highest shooting percentage for the Lady Falcons this season.
Brittane Neely had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Lady Golden Bulls, who led by 10 points in the first half. Bu the Lady Falcons went on a furious run to go ahead 38-28 at halftime. The Lady Falcons stretched the lead to 22 points with five minutes left in the game.
The Lady Falcons, second in the CIAA in field goal percentage defense, forced the Lady Golden Bulls to shoot 32 percent in gaining their seventh win in eight games.
The win avenged last year's 59-53 loss to the Lady Golden Bulls in the 2009 CIAA Tournament semifinals after the led by five points with 6:30 remaining. The Lady Golden Bulls went on to win the CIAA Tournament title.
The Lady Falcons play their second straight home game Saturday (Jan. 30) when they host Livingstone College at Emery Gymnasium. Game time is 5:30 p.m.
