BOWIE, Md. – Freshman Kyaja Williams (Baltimore, Md.) scored a team-high 10 points to lead Bowie State but Virginia State came away with the stunning 46-43 CIAA Northern Division victory on Wednesday evening at the A.C. Jordan Arena. The 43 points tied Bowie State's season-low of the season.
 
The loss sets the Bowie State record to 15-5, 7-3 CIAA and 2-2 in division, while Virginia State improves to 13-6, 5-4 CIAA and 2-2 in the North.
 
The Bulldogs struggled pretty much the entire game, shooting just 28.8 percent from the field (17-of-59), which included 1-of-8 (12.5 percent) behind the 3-point line. Bowie State made 8-of-14 free throws (57.1 percent). Bowie State held advantages in points in the paint (32-14), points off turnovers (13-5) second chance points (11-10), fast break points (4-0) and bench points (16-5). However, the Bulldogs were out-rebounded 45-43.
 
Bowie State juniors Kyah Proctor (Capitol Heights, Md.) and Kiara Colston (Burtonsville, Md.) tallied eight points apiece while seniors Denver Clyde (Glen Burnie, Md.) and Ashley Jennings (Newark, N.J.) scored six points each. Jennings was the games' leading rebounder with a career-high 14.
 
With the scored tied at 10-all after the first quarter, Bowie State managed to outscore Virginia State 11-7 in the second quarter to take a 21-17 lead into halftime. Neither team shot the ball particularly well, with the Bulldogs hitting at a 30.8 percent clip (8-of-26) compared to 24.1 percent (7-of-29) for the Trojans.
 
The two teams matched their second quarter output in the third quarter, sending Bowie State into the final quarter of play with a 32-24 advantage.
 
The fourth quarter was the most exciting of them all. Bowie State held an eight point lead (35-27) at the 8:23 mark but went cold after that.
 
Virginia State went on 10-2 run to tie the score at 37-all with 3:41 remaining in the game.
 
Bowie State's Williams drove the length of the court to give the advantage back to the Bulldogs at 39-37, but Virginia State's Nandi Taylor (Mt. Morris, Mich.) knotted the game at 39-39 and gave the Trojans their first lead of the game (41-39) following a pair of free throws at the 2:09 mark.
 
Another Williams layup created tie number six (41-41) with two minutes to go but Virginia State's Endia McKinney (Norfolk, Va.) drilled a 3-pointer to shift the advantage back over to the Trojans for good.
 
McKinney led the Virginia State Trojans with 15 points and Taylor ended the night with 14 points. Taylor Daniels fell just short of a double-double, pulling down a team-high 13 rebounds to go along with eight points.
 
The Bulldogs host Elizabeth City State on Saturday (January 28th) at 2 p.m.