Jan. 26, 2008

Final Stats

Johnson C. Smith avenged an earlier season loss and held on to beat Bowie State 64-61 in overtime, snapping the Lady Bulldogs three-game winning streak. The loss drops Bowie State's record to 12-3 overall and 7-3 in the CIAA.

Johnson C. Smith (12-6 / 8-2 in the CIAA) bolted out the gate and jumped out to a 16-7 advantage in the games first 11 minutes and held Bowie State to three-of-15 shooting during that span. Kyria Buford (Charlotte, N.C.)played a key role scoring nine points and collected four rebounds. BSU's Lady Bulldogs closed to within five twice and went into halftime trailing 23-18. Neither team shot very well from the field in the first half. Bowie State hit six-of-27 (22.2 percent) and Johnson C. Smith's Lady Golden Bulls were slightly better at 31 percent, making nine-of-29 from the field. Both teams turned the ball over often during the first 20 minutes, with JCSU committing 12 and BSU accounting for 11.

Freshman Teaunsha Robinson scored six of Bowie State's first eight points of the second half but Johnson C. Smith's Buford pushed the lead to 11 points (37-26) by way of a lay-up at the 14:38 mark. Junior Sherika Thomas scored back-to-back field goals and added a free throw to close the deficit to 39-35 with 11:13 remaining. Junior Markeya Watson stole the ball from Buford at the top of the circle and raced down the floor to score, pulling Bowie State to within two at 50-48 with 4:10 left to play. Watson gave the BSU Lady Bulldogs its first lead of the afternoon (53-52) on a twisting jumper in the paint with 2:40 left to play in regulation. Bowie State and Johnson C. Smith traded free throws but Demetria Bell (Indianapolis, Ind.) missed two huge free throws with 49 ticks left on the clock which would have put the Lady Golden Bulls ahead. However, Bowie State's Bianca Lee hit one of two free throws. The game didn't end without controversy as JCSU's Bell hit a lay-up with four seconds, tying things up at 55 and sent the game into overtime. There were several timing issues in the final 12 seconds as the Brayboy Gymnasium clock never started.

Buford converted two free throws to give JCSU a 61-57 advantage with just over two minutes left in overtime. BSU'S Robinson stuck two free throws of her own to narrow the margin to 61-59. Thomas (12 points) knotted the game up at 61-61 courtesy of a pair of free throws with 21.5 seconds. JCSU's Buford knocked down two more free throws with 11 seconds left to play and Bell sealed it for the Lady Golden Bulls with one final free throw.

JCSU's Buford recorded a career 27 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds to pace the Lady Golden Bulls and Bell added another 18 points in the win. Johnson C. Smith won the battle of boards, outrebounding Bowie State 53-47.

Robinson scored a season-high 17 points and sophomore Bianca Lee chipped in 14 points to lead Bowie State. As a team, BSU shot a season-low 28.8 percent from the field and missed 17 of 39 free throw attempts.

Bowie State will return to the hardwood - Tuesday, January 29th on the road against Elizabeth City State University at 5:30 p.m. in ECSU's R.L. Vaughan Center. Johnson C. Smith will travel north to face St. Paul's College - Thursday, January 31st at 5:30 p.m.