ETTRICK, Va. – Bowie State women's basketball relinquished a 14-point third quarter lead and fell 67-59 to nationally ranked Virginia State on Saturday afternoon in the VSU's Multipurpose Center.
 
Bowie State (13-6, 6-4 CIAA, 2-2 North) was paced by graduate student Sade Chatman (Minneapolis, Minn.) with 13 points and senior Kiara Colston (Burtonsville, Md.) added 11 in the tough setback.
 
The Bulldogs led the Trojans 10-5 at the first media timeout (4:12) and held a 16-10 advantage after the first quarter.
 
Bowie State knocked down 50 percent of their shots (13-of-26) in the first 20 minutes of play and took a 35-29 advantage into the break over #25 Virginia State. Chatman led the Bulldogs in the first half with eight points. Bowie State also held a slim 14-12 advantage on the glass at halftime.
 
Virginia State (17-2, 7-2 CIAA, 1-3 North) hit 10-of-23 first half field goals (43.5 percent) which included 6-of-12 behind the 3-point line.
 
Bowie State held a 12-point cushion twice in the third quarter and a Colston layup gave the Bulldogs a 50-36 lead at the 4:23 mark and puts her into the elite Bowie State 1,000 Point Club. The Bulldogs kept pushing and led 54-47 after three quarters of action.
 
The Trojans would not go away quietly closing the deficit to 54-51 by the 7:22 mark of the fourth quarter following a pair of free throws by Dionna Marcus (Fort Stewart, Ga.). Virginia State battled back to take its first lead (55-54) since (3-0) at the 4:26 mark of the fourth quarter via an Alexis Smith (Lusby, Md.) layup.
 
Bulldogs sophomore Kyaja Williams (Baltimore, Md.) made one of two free throws to tie the game at 55-all but Virginia State's Smith drilled a 3-pointer on the next Trojans possession to shift the advantage back over to the home team at 58-55.
 
Virginia State led 61-55 but a Chatman free throw followed by a 3-pointer by senior Ty-Nita Baker (Houston, Miss.) pulls the Bulldogs within two at 61-59 with 34.7 seconds remaining in regulation.
 
VSU's Keyanna Brown (Williamsburg, Va.) knocked down a pair of free throws for a little breathing room at 63-59 and Chrisanna Green (Jamestown, N.Y.) hit a pair of free throws to seal the win.
 
Smith and Brown led the Trojans with 16 and 15 points respectively. Mia Fitts (Richmond, Va.) added 13 points and Green recorded a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
 
Bowie State women's basketball will be idle until returning to action on Saturday (February 3rd) at Elizabeth City State. Game time in ECSU's Vaughan Center is 2 p.m.