Shaw victorious over lady vikings
Lady Bears Evaporate Eight Game Losing Streak Against ECSU

January 8, 2008 – Elizabeth City, NC – With the start of the New Year, the Shaw University Lady Bears jumped back into CIAA competition against the Lady Vikings of Elizabeth City State University. The Lady Bears’ scored 33 points off of 34 forced turnovers as they collected their third straight season CIAA success with a 71 – 62 victory over eastern division foe ECSU.

The Lady Bears immediately attacked the Lady Vikings’ defensive fort. Shaw skied to a 6 – 0 lead after #3 Tanisha McGaughey (Guard / 5 – 11 / Freshman / Norfolk, VA) took possession of an offensive rebound and released a quick dish to #52 KeyAuna Jenkins (Forward / 6 – 0 / Junior / Cleveland, OH) for the lay-up. On the very next possession, McGaughey torched the twine with a three-pointer to increase the lead to 9 – 3. ESCU eased their way back into the fold to trail by one, 9 – 8 Shaw, after back to back three-pointers by #1 Joyce Freeman. At the 12:52 mark, the Lady Vikings birthed the fist tie of the game, 13 – 13, with a behind the arc bucket by #10 Sha-Teisa Sharpe. ESCU connected on four of five free throw attempts, but Shaw still held an 18 – 17 lead. Then, ECSU took their first lead of the game after #00 Celeste Trahan tacked on two more free throws. The contest’s second tie stood at 20 – 20 with a steal and lay-up by #15 Tammy Lanier (Guard / 5 – 6 / Freshman / Atlanta, GA). With a little less than five minutes remaining in the first half, two made free throws by #32 Jasmine Rivera (Forward / 5 – 9 / Senior / Jacksonville, NC) and a first basket three-pointer by #25 Jamie Goshen (Guard / 6 – 0 / Senior / Chesapeake, VA) put the Lady Bears back in the forefront, 26 – 23. In the final sixty seconds, a deprived Shaw defense pick-pocketed the Lady Vikings in the backcourt for two steals and four fast break points on two consecutive occasions to build their largest lead of 11 points. Shaw led 39 – 30 at the intermission.

At the start of the second half, the Lady Bears picked up where they left off as Lanier buried her first three-point basket. Shaw performed with shutdown defense as ECSU’s All-American Trahan served as the Lady Vikings primary and only means of offense for five minutes. Head Coach Jacques Curtis called for a full timeout at the 13:49 mark after Goshen drained her first three-pointer. Shaw led 49 – 39. Shortly thereafter, “Superwoman” Lanier reappeared for another top of the key three-pointer. Then, the Lady Bears progressed to a lead of fifteen points, 58 – 43, with a long range two pointer by Goshen. ECSU closed the gap, but Shaw submitted a strong defensive effort to cancel their comeback chances.

The Lady Bears had three players to score in double figures. Shaw was led in scoring by #15 Tammy Lanier (Guard / 5 – 6 / Freshman / Atlanta, GA) with 16 points (three rebounds / two assists / four steals). Providing additional scoring was #25 Jamie Goshen (Guard / 6 – 0 / Senior / Chesapeake, VA) with 15 points (four rebounds / two assists / one block / one steal), and #3 Tanisha McGaughey (Guard / 5 – 11 / Freshman / Norfolk, VA) with 14 points (six rebounds / five assists / one block. Leading in rebounding was #34 Nicky Souter (Forward / Center / 6 - 1 / Senior / Brooklyn, NY) as she collected nine rebounds (two points / nine steals).