Shaw women dominate Livingstone

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on February 25, 2004 1:55 PM

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RALEIGH -- The Livingstone College women's team was well aware of its role of David in facing Shaw University, the Goliath of the NCAA Division II Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

The Lady Blue Bears attempted to do what no other CIAA team had done all year -- defeat the juggernaut team located in Raleigh.

Unfortunately for Livingstone, Goliath won the battle as top-seeded Shaw put the Lady Blue Bears away by halftime and marched on to a 66-34 victory in the quarterfinal round contested at the RBC Center on Tuesday.

Shaw (25-2) wasn't clicking on all cylinders, but it didn't matter. The Lady Bears pulled out to a 30-9 halftime lead and never looked back.

"They played bad and we played bad," Shaw head coach Jacques Curtis said. "I'm just glad we advanced."

Shaw might not have brought its 'A' game into the contest offensively, but the Lady Bears were still par excellence on defense. Shaw held Livingstone to just 17.4 percent shooting from the field.

"For some reason, we didn't finish," Livingstone head coach Andrew Mitchell said. "We have nobody to blame but ourselves."

Livingstone (4-23) looked as though it might have a chance of scoring the major upset after taking a 5-2 lead seven minutes into the game. But the Shaw sleeping giant awoke and ran off 21 consecutive points to end all thoughts of an upset.

Despite playing somewhat sloppy basketball in the second half, Shaw conquered Livingstone in nearly every statistical category. The Lady Bears held the edge in rebounds, 54-41, assists 13-4 and blocks 5-0.

Latasha Shipman was the only Shaw player in double figures with 14 points. All but one player scored for the Lady Bears. Chloe McInnis who registered a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds led Livingstone.

Shaw, the reigning conference champions, faces Johnson C. Smith in the semifinals Friday at 3 p.m.

In earlier action, Elizabeth City State was its own worst enemy, committing 28 turnovers, and that proved to be the difference in their 71-58 loss to Johnson C. Smith.

The Lady Vikings (13-14) appeared fatigued after playing winning a tough game against Winston-Salem State Monday. Johnson C. Smith (16-12) scored 36 points off Elizabeth City State's turnovers. Johnson C. Smith, which had a first-round bye, looked the part of the fresher team. The Lady Golden Bulls employed a full-court defensive game that eventually wore Elizabeth City State down in the second half.

"In order for us to be effective, we needed to get into transition and I think our press did that," said Johnson C. Smith head coach Vanessa Taylor, who defeated the school where she began her coaching career. "It was very effective, and enabled us to get into things."

Johnson C. Smith took a 36-29 advantage into halftime.

Johnson C. Smith was led by Annie DeRoy, who tallied a game-high 17 points. Trevia Pittman paced Elizabeth City State with 14 points.

Fayetteville State held Bowie State guard Allyson Hardy to 27 points and came away with a 96-73 win.

Hardy, who scored 50 points in Bowie State's win against St. Augustine's Monday, was plagued by foul trouble. The all-CIAA junior guard fouled out with 3:13 remaining in the contest. Hardy, who has drawn the attention of WNBA scouts, added nine rebounds and three steals.

Fayetteville State (15-11) advances to play second-seeded Virginia Union in the semifinals Friday at 1 p.m.

North Carolina Central was game against Virginia Union, but the Lady Eagles couldn't put it all together and were soundly defeated 66-45 in the second game of the day.

N.C. Central (14-13) could not overcome poor shooting and turnovers for the second straight day against the vaunted second-seeded Lady Panthers. The Lady Eagles shot just 29 percent from the floor and committed 21 costly turnovers.

"Offensively, we struggled again on the boards and scoring," N.C. Central coach Joli Robinson said. "We didn't make the easy shots that we've been taking all season long."

Virginia Union (22-5) shook off the rust of its first-round bye and shot a scorching 57 percent in the second half to seal the win.

Cassie King paced N.C. Central with a game-high 18 points. Sharon Atkins led Virginia Union with 17 points, all coming in the second half.