SC State Women Advance with 62-52 Win Over B-CU
South Carolina State 62, Bethune-Cookman 52
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Senior Whitney Wiley tossed in 19 points, with 16 coming in the second half, to lift South Carolina State to a 62-52 win over Bethune-Cookman Wednesday in opening round action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament at the Joel Coliseum.
Sophomores Paris Alston and Trinese Fox chipped in 10 points each and Alston added a team-high seven rebounds in the victory, the fifth in a row and the sixth triumph in seven outings for Coach Doug Robertson's Lady Bulldogs.
With the win, SC State improved to 12-16 on the season and earned the right to meet top-seeded Hampton Wednesday in quarterfinal action beginning at 12 noon.
The Lady Wildcats of B-CU, who dressed just seven players for the game, were led by senior Sarah Bolden with 16 points and nine rebounds. Cleniece Roberts, Jasmine Elum and Jasmine Bugg all had 10 points in the loss for Coach Vanessa Blair's team, which finished the year 13-17.
SC State, bothered by B-CU's 1-3-1 zone, trailed most of the first half before going on 13-4 run, which began with a Fox layup with 5:47 left in the opening half, to take a 26-23 edge to the locker room.
The Lady Bulldogs started the final stanza with an 8-2 run to build a 34-25 lead when Fannie Goodwin, who which finished with six points, got a short bank shot.
But, SC State, sparked by consecutive three-point plays by Wiley and a layup by Tracey Flowers who contributed just four points in the win, scored 10 of the next 13 points to go ahead 55-46 on Wiley's third 3-point play of the afternoon. B-CU could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
UMES Downs Delaware State 52-44 in MEAC Opening Round
Maryland E. Shore 52, Delaware State 44
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Seventh-seeded Maryland Eastern Shore closed the game on a 12-3 run to earn a 52-44 victory over 10-seeded Delaware State in opening round action of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championship tournament Tuesday at the Joel Coliseum.
Junior Adobi Agbasi scored 11 points, all in the second half, to go with seven rebounds as Chelsea Sanders contributed 10 points and six boards in the victory for the Lady Hawks. LaKendra Wilkerson chipped in nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
UMES, which improved to 12-18 on the year, advanced to Wednesday's quarterfinals against second-seeded Morgan State at 10 a.m.
Delaware State, which ended its campaign at 9-20, was led by senior Brittany Washington with 12 points and a game-high 16 rebounds. Ashley Thompson came off the bench for 10 points and Kianna Conner contributed nine for the Lady Hornets.
Delaware State led 11-5 early in the contest but UMES battled back and grabbed its first lead at 15-14 on two free throws by Sanders with 8:15 on the first period clock. There were two lead changes before the teams went to the locker room deadlocked at 22-22.
The two teams traded baskets to start the final half, forging four ties before UMES went ahead 34-30 on a breakaway basket by Casey Morton with 14:43 to play. The Lady Hawks trailed just once the rest of the way - 41-40 - at the 7:42 mark.
"It was a hard tough game against Delaware State," Batchelor said in the postgame press conference. "I'm happy we were able to overcome them. Our depth allowed us to come up big at the end. We were determined and our kids gave great effort.
Doyle Leads Howard to Win over Norfolk State
Howard 68, Norfolk State 56
Winston-Salem, NC - Saadia Doyle scored a game-high 23 points to lead four players in double figures and help Howard defeat Norfolk State, 68-56 in the first round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference women's tournament at the Joel Coliseum.
Doyle, the 2011 MEAC Player of the Year, got the Lady Bison (14-17) off to a fast start, scoring 13 of her points in the first half as Howard jumped out to an early lead and held a 40-24 advantage at the half. The sophomore forward connected on 5-of-7 from the field.
"When you have the MEAC Player of the Year, a lot of teams gear their defense towards her," said Howard Coach Niki Reid Geckeler. "She's had to come out and play against double and triple teams all season. So her fast start was huge. It set the tone for us and opened up things for the other players."
The Lady Bison, the Number 6 seed, were aided by sophomore guard Adele Walton, who provided some perimeter shooting with 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field and sophomore forward Kara Smith.
Riding the scoring of sophomore guard Tamoria Holmes, the Lady Bison increased their lead to 20 in the first minute of the second half and appeared to have the game in hand.
But the Spartans rallied on the scoring freshman of Rachel Gordon, junior Whitney Long and freshman Rae Corbo to reduce the lead to eight at the four-minute mark.
Doyle recorded 23 points and nine rebounds while Holmes and Curley Payne each tallied 13 and Walton contributed 10, all coming in the first half. Curley Payne also tied her career-high of eight assists.
Norfolk State was led by Corbo, who finished with a team-high 14, Gordon with 12 and Whitney Long with 10 off the bench, all coming in the second half.
Howard and North Carolina A&T split during the regular season, each winning at home.