FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – Bowie State's Bulldogs used a 17-4 fourth quarter run to rally and defeat the Fayetteville State lady Broncos 55-51 on Monday night in FSU's Capel Arena.
 
Redshirt senior Pere Alexander paced the Bulldogs with a double double of 14 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman Chyna Butler chipped in 11 points, five rebounds, two steals and two assists.
 
Bowie State won the battle on the glass, outrebounding Fayetteville State 38-34. The Bulldogs also held advantages in points in the paint (32-22), points off turnovers (16-7), second chance points (7-6) and bench points 21-12. Bowie State finished the contest shooting 42 percent from the field (21-of-50) but struggled at the free throw line, making 10-of-20.
 
The Fayetteville State Lady Broncos busted out the gate with a 12-2 advantage over Bowie State at the 5:24 mark of the first quarter, forcing the Bulldogs to use an early timeout.
 
Bowie State came out of the timeout to score back-to-back field goals and trimmed the deficit to 14-10 by the end of the first quarter.
 
An Amel Duggins layup at the 8:40 mark of the second quarter pulled the Bulldogs within two (16-14) only to have Fayetteville State push their lead to 22-16 at the under-five media timeout and the Broncos took a 28-22 lead into halftime. Free throws played a role in Bowie State's first half deficit as the Broncos converted 8-of-11 compared to 1-of-5 for the Bulldogs.
 
The Bulldogs really struggled in the third quarter, going over six minutes without a point. Sophomore Talanya Hutton stopped the Bowie State drought with a field goal with 1:32 left in the third and trailed the Broncos 39-31 heading into the critical fourth quarter.
 
Fayetteville State (8-6 overall / 3-3 CIAA) took its largest lead of the game at 46-36 at the 6:50 mark of the fourth quarter.
 
A Pere Alexander 3-pointer closed the Bowie State deficit to five (48-43) followed by a Williams layup pulled the Bulldogs within three (48-45) by the 4:56 mark.  A Butler layup with 54 seconds remaining gave the Bulldogs its first lead at 52-51. The Bulldogs finished the game on a 17-4 run.
 
Yakima Clifton led the Broncos with 15 points and Katisha Hyman added 12 points in the loss. Shantel Bennett recorded eight points while Brittany Drumgoole added seven points. Darria Hewitt was Fayetteville State's leading rebounder with five.
 
Bowie State women's basketball return to the hardwood Saturday (January 19) hosting the Lady Lions of Lincoln University of Pennsylvania at 2 p.m.