RALEIGH, N.C. - The streaking Bowie State University women's basketball team came out very flat and never recovered from a deep deficit in Wednesday's 79-69 conference setback at Shaw University. The loss snapped a 10-game Bulldogs winning streak and was the first conference loss of the year, setting Bowie State's record at 13-3 overall and 5-1 in the CIAA.
Bowie State junior
Kyah Proctor (Capitol Heights, Md.) erupted for a career-best 28 points to lead all scorers. Junior
Kiara Colston (Burtonsville, Md.) tallied 13 points and senior
Denver Clyde (Glen Burnie, Md.) came off the bench to notch a double-double of 10 points, 10 rebounds, a pair of blocks and two steals.
Junior LaQuisha Taylor (Charlotte, N.C.) paced the Lady Bears in scoring with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Freshman Stephanie Custodio (Chino, Calif.) chipped in 17 points, six rebounds and four assists while juniors Chelsea Long (Melbourne, Fla.) added 10 points Bianca Maxwell (London, England) recorded 10 points and nine points and 11 rebounds respectively.
The Lady Bears (5-12, 2-3 CIAA) opened up the contest raining three-pointers as Shaw drained four to take a commanding 16-3 lead. The Lady Bears would use a 10-6 run to lead 26-9 at the end of the first quarter. In that quarter alone, Shaw was responsible for six trey balls, connecting 6-of-7 three-pointers for 85.7 percent shooting.
Despite the Lady Bears lead of 18 points in the second quarter, the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit after using a 7-2 run to pull within 12 points (28-16) at the 6:31 mark but that would be the closest BSU would get as Shaw punched in a 10-3 frame to stretch its lead back up to 19 points. The final 1:48 consisted of a 4-3 scoring advantage for Shaw as the Lady Bears led 44-26 at halftime.
At the break, the Lady Bears shot 50 percent (13-of-26) from the field (season-best), including 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from behind the arc and 91.7 percent (11-of-12) from the foul line. In addition, Shaw's stifling defense held the Bulldogs to a season-low 22.9 percent (8-of-35) from the floor, 1-of-14 (7.1 percent) from the three-point line and 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Bulldogs went on an 11-5 spurt in the first 5:18 of the third quarter, Shaw led 52-36 with 4:46 left but BSU fought back to close the gap to 10 points heading into the fourth quarter with the score showing 55-45 in favor of Shaw.
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs produced a 7-2 stance to trail by six points but the Lady Bears responded with an 11-2 stretch to lead by 14 with 3:57 left to play. Shaw would not relinquish the lead in the final minutes as Taylor scored her 20th point to put the game out of reach for Bowie State.
The Bulldogs return home after an extended CIAA Southern Division swing to host the Lady Lions of Lincoln (Pa.) University at 2 p.m. on Saturday (1/14).
