BOX SCORE

PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy of Lawrence Johnson)

(BOWIE, Md.) The Virginia State Lady Trojans rebounded from a 31-26 halftime deficit and came back to defeat the Bowie State Lady Bulldogs 62-58. The victory clinches the CIAA Eastern Division title for Virginia State and improves the Lady Trojans record to 20-4, 15-3 in the CIAA and 7-0 in the East.

This game took on some of the same characteristics as game one. Bowie State held Virginia State to a 31 percent first half field goal percentage, but had a tough first half as well, shooting at a 40 percent clip. The host Lady Bulldogs led much of the first period until Virginia State's Ashley Whitaker layup followed by a 3-pointer by Janelle McDowell gave the guest their first lead at 21-17 with 4:03 left in the opening stanza.

Junior Teaunsha Robinson (Baltimore, MD, Baltimore Polytechnic) shifted the advantage back to Bowie State two minutes later and the Lady Bulldogs rode into halftime lead just like game one in Ettrick (Va.).

Bowie State (13-7, 13-5 in the CIAA and 3-3 in the East) built a 10-point lead (36-26) early in the second half, but Virginia State outscored Bowie State 17-11 over the next eight minutes to pull within two at 47-45. BSU's Lady Bulldogs withstood the Lady Trojans run until VSU's Morgan McGill tied the game at 52-52.

Senior Flodysha Peterson (Cambridge, MD, Cambridge South Dorchester) put Bowie State back on top with a layup at the 4:50 mark. However, Virginia State's Angela Brown tied the game for seventh time on the Lady Trojans next possession. McGill put Virginia State in front for good, making one-of-two free throws

Virginia State took advantage of extra opportunities, accounting for 23 second chance points compared to only seven for Bowie State.

Neither team shot very well from the field the entire game. Virginia State closed out the evening shooting 21-of-61 from the field (34 percent) and Bowie State was only slightly better, shooting 22-of-60 (37 percent).

Tierney Rock and Morgan McGill led Virginia State with 11 and 10 points respectively. Brown and Nia Thompson pulled down a game-high nine rebounds each to lead Virginia State on the glass.

Bowie State senior Bianca Lee (Temple Hills, MD, Archbishop Carroll) scored a game-high 15 points and Robinson added 12 points in the setback. Sophomore Juliette Turner (Silver Spring, MD, John F. Kennedy) led Bowie State on the boards with a eight rebounds to go along with nine points.

Bowie State will have little time to regroup as the Lady Bulldogs will host Lincoln University of Pennsylvania on Tuesday (February 16) at 5:30 p.m.