BOWIE, Md. - Bowie State University held the Johnson C. Smith University women's basketball team to just 33.9 percent shooting to down the Golden Bulls 65-55 in a CIAA matchup at the A.C. Jordan Arena on Monday afternoon. The loss drops Johnson C. Smith to 8-3 overall and 1-1 in CIAA play while Bowie State improves to 10-2 and 2-0 in the league.
 
With Bowie State holding a 41-38 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, Johnson C. Smith allowed Bowie State juniors Kiara Colston (Burtonsville, Md.) and Kyah Proctor (Capital Heights, Md.) to nail back-to-back three pointers to take the 47-40 lead at the 8:12 mark.  JCSU would respond, cutting the lead to just three points when Anika Jones (Shelby, N.C.) knocked in a three pointer of her own to draw within 51-48 with 4:53 to play. Jones again trimmed the BSU lead to two points (54-52) after a layup, but the Bulldogs quickly rebuilt the cushion to 58-52 after a Kyaja Williams (Baltimore, Md.) basket and a free throw from Colston and Proctor.

The Golden Bulls would cut the lead to four points on two more occasions down the stretch, but could get no closer, as the Bulldogs hit five straight free throws and added a layup as time expired to take the 65-55 win.

Bowie State's defense forced Johnson C. Smith into 21 turnovers and limited the Golden Bulls to just a 20-of-59 shooting effort and outscored JCSU 26-20 in the paint.  As a team, Bowie State connected for 46 percent of its field goals (23-of-50).

Blaire Thomas (Waterloo, Iowa) and Jones scored 12 points apiece in the loss for the Golden Bulls. Jones tied with Kendall Adams (Opelika, Ala.) for team-high rebound honors with seven apiece.

Bowie State got a season-best 19 points from Colston and a career-high 16 points from Pere Alexander (Baltimore, Md.). Alexander also led Bulldogs with a game-high eight rebounds. Williams fell just short of a double-double, contributing nine points, seven rebounds and a career-best two blocks.
 
The Lady Bulldogs take a seven game win streak into the Christmas break before returning to conference play on Saturday (December 31st), hosting the Rams of Winston-Salem State in an early afternoon tilt beginning at 12 p.m.