Women's Basketball Sports Information Office

Lady Falcons Lose 74-65 To Shaw In CIAA Semifinals


Boxscore

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - CIAA player of the year Allison Sikes (Richmond, Va.) scored a game-high 22 points for Saint Augustine's College, which fought valiantly in the end before losing 74-65 to crosstown rival Shaw Thursday in the CIAA Tournament women's semifinals at Time Warner Cable Arena.

Senior Le'Kiesha White (Richmond, Va.) and CIAA freshman of the year Umeka Benson both added 12 points for the Lady Falcons, who ended their season at 19-11 overall under first-year Head Coach Rachel Bullard.

"The loss overshadows the season at the moment, but I am truly proud of the girls," Bullard said.

Demaria Liles had a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Bears (20-11 overall), who will be going to their sixth CIAA title game in nine seasons. Aslea Williams had 14 points and eight rebounds and Kyria Buford had 13 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Bears, who also got 12 points, six assists and four steals from guard Brittany Spencer.

Sikes, a 5-10 senior guard-forward, scored 11 points and Benson, a 6-0 freshman forward, added 10 points during a furious rally which pulled the Lady Falcons back in the game after trailing 51-26 early in the second half. Flashbacks of a second-half comeback like the one against Elizabeth City State in Tuesday's quarterfinal win seemed possible. In that game, the Lady Falcons came back from 13 points down.

Guard Brittany Torain (Warner Robins, Ga.) hit a jumper to pull the Lady Falcons within 67-63 with 2:56 left, but the Lady Bears, the No. 2 Southern Division seed, went on a 7-2 run to finish the game. Spencer scored four points during the run.

The loss was the third this season to the Lady Bears and all three games were similar. As they had done before, the Lady Bears relied on their height and trapping defense to build an early lead, only for the Lady Falcons to rally in the second half. The Lady Bears won 92-79 on Jan. 22 and 75-69 on Feb. 24.

The Lady Falcons, the No. 4 Southern Division seed, were hurt by 24 turnovers and 35 percent shooting although they climbed back in the game by forcing 26 Lady Bears' turnovers.

“We played in spurts,” Sikes said. “We didn't play 40 minutes.”

The Lady Bears set the tone early with a 10-2 lead on Buford's free throw and a three-pointer. They extended the lead to 20-6 before the Lady Falcons settled down. Sikes capped a Lady Falcons 13-4 run with a three-pointer to get them back in the game at 24-19.

Just when it appeared the Lady Falcons were back in the contest, the Lady Bears pulled away with an 18-2 run including 10 consecutive points. Brittany Ransom of the Lady Bears scored on a layup for a 42-21 lead, and the Lady Bears went into halftime leading 43-25 before the Lady Falcons made a game of it.

The loss ended the careers of Sikes, White and Crystal McCaffity (Havelock, N.C.), who led the Lady Falcons in scoring in their two CIAA Tournament victories. The season provided plenty of highlights including Sikes and Benson winning the league's top individual awards. The Lady Falcons also won the league's highest grade point average award for women's basketball.

The Lady Falcons pulled off several impressive wins this season. They were 2-0 against division champions Elizabeth City State  and Johnson C. Smith and defeated regionally ranked West Liberty. The Lady Falcons also ended a seven-game losing streak at Bowie State which stretched to 2000.

The low point was the season-ending injury to Keyona Bryant, the team's leading scorer at the time. Bryant, an All-CIAA performer last season was injured during the victory over Bowie, but the Lady Falcons regrouped to win six of their last eight regular season games to reach the CIAA semifinals for the second time in three seasons.

"All of the wins were highlights but it was something about beating Bowie," Bullard said. "For us to overcome [Bryant's] injury really speaks volumes about the girls' dedication to basketball."






Print Friendly Version