BOX SCORE

GAME IMAGES (Courtesy of Eddie Wallace)

(BOWIE, Md.)  In a game that started slowly and never truly gained offensive momentum, host Bowie State University had enough to top Shaw University 42-36. Senior Brittney Jackson (Laurel, MD, Laurel)had 11 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs, and teammate ChaniChanita Jordan (Philadelphia, PA, University City, North Carolina State) had ten. Jordan also led Bowie State with six rebounds. Sophomore Cortney Baynard (Dover, DE, Caesar Rodney) led both teams with four assists.

Shaw (9-6, 2-2 CIAA) sank only 15-of-53 shots on the game (28 percent), and turned the ball over 24 times. Bowie State (7-3, 3-0 CIAA) shot 30 percent from the field, hitting 16-for-53.

The first half was the textbook definition of an exercise in futility. Shaw hit only six of 30 shots (20 percent) and did not attempt a single free throw. The Lady Bulldogs – who held a 15-13 halftime lead – hit only four of 31 (13 percent), but sank six of eight free throw attempts.

When a team only scores 15 (or 13) points in a half, there are bound to be long stretches when the team goes scoreless. Both teams went scoreless early and again midway through the half.

Jackie Sanders got the scoring started with a jumper after more than three and a half minutes had run off the clock. Down 4-0, Bowie State finally got on the board for the first time with a three with 13:26 left in the first half after a 3-pointer by Jackson.

Shaw went for six minutes without scoring midway through the first half, while the Lady Bulldogs went nearly seven minutes without notching a point.

Both teams improved in the second half, and Bowie State slowly built a lead that while seemingly small, loomed much larger for the Shaw Lady Bears given the lack of offense.

Shaw took a quick lead at the beginning of the second half when Niesha Searles hit a free throw and Sanders sank a three to give the Lady Bears a 17-15 lead less than two minutes in.

Sanders hit another three with 15:59 left in the game to give the Lady Bears a 20-19 lead, but the Lady Bulldogs ran off ten straight points – while Shaw went scoreless for five and a half minutes – to give Bowie a 29-20 lead with 11:26 remaining in the contest.  

Bowie State extended the lead to 11 points twice in the second half – the latest when a Brittne Gowdy (Baltimore, MD, Milford Mill Academy) pass found junior Kimberly Jones (Upper Marlboro, MD, West Potomac, Allegeny C.C.) under the basket for a quick layup with only 6:24 left on the clock.

Shaw did make a late run, and with 3:10 left in the game, Sanders hit a jumper on the left side of the lane that cut the Bowie State lead to 36-31. But in an offensively deficient game, a five-point lead proved too much to overcome.

Sanders led Shaw's Lady Bears with 12 points, and was the only Shaw player in double digits. Victoria Tanner pulled in ten rebounds to lead both teams.

Bowie State will take it's undefeated conference record into Saturday's (1/15) home game against the Lady Falcons of Saint Augustine's College. Tip time for the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Falcons is 2 pm in BSU's A.C. Jordan Arena.