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RALEIGH, NC – After a one-week layoff,
the second ranked Shaw women’s team came into the 2005 CIAA Tournament
rested. The St. Augustine’s Lady
Falcons on the other hand had just the day before defeated Virginia State, Shaw
‘s last opponent, to get to the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
The Lady Bears didn’t give their best performance, but
it was enough to defeat the Lady Falcons 85-70 at RBC Center.
Natasha Lyons scored first for the Lady Falcons, putting
them ahead 2-0 very early on lead. But
that would be their last advantage, as the Lady Bears struck up a four-minute
9-0 scoring run. In the next six minutes, Shaw streaked away with a 16-point
lead via a 15-5 offensive storm. The Lady Bears largest lead to that point was
of 17 points when Leslee Anderson hit a three-pointer with 41 seconds remaining
in the first half. Shaw scored 20 first half points off the bench as Anderson
accounted for seven of them. As
for Saint Augustine’s, its offense stumbled to stand as they shot 25% (7 of
28) from the field and 22% (2 of 9) from the free-throw line. Furthermore, the
Lady Falcons’ 14 turnovers did not exactly heat up their level of momentum.
The Lady Bears scored 20 points off of those 14 turnovers to lead 42-28
at half-time.
In the second half, Kiarsha Curtis’ 11 first half points inspired other Lady
Bears to be equally impressive with their offensive production. Joy Hairston
did just that as she added 11 points to her six first half points. The Lady
Bears extended their lead to 21 points on a-up by Tavia Clemendor with 6
minutes 52 seconds remaining in the game.
Dana Atkins led the Lady Falcons with 15 points while Valicia Brown and
freshman Ernesta Green had 13 points a-piece. Latika Ross recorded a
double-double with 14 points and a game high 19 rebounds.
The Lady Bears were led in scoring with 16 points from Bilisa Perkins.
Curtis and Joy Hairston both had 15 points and Anderson provided 13 points.
Shaw
will face North Carolina Central in the semifinals on Friday at 3:00 p.m.
Saint Augustine’s finishes their season 17 – 12.
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