Thanks to a stifling defensive effort in the fourth quarter, the Fayetteville State Lady Broncos upset the Bowie State Lady Bulldogs 49-46 in Friday’s semifinal at CFG Bank Arena to advance to the CIAA Women’s championship game for the third straight year.
Fayetteville State (21-4) will take on Winston Salem State University in Saturday’s Women’s CIAA championship game.
Coming into the fourth quarter, the defending CIAA champion Lady Broncos allowed 19 points in the third quarter to give Bowie State a 43-38 lead coming into the final stanza.
Despite holding Bowie State (19-8) to 0-for-11 shooting in the fourth quarter, the Lady Broncos trailed the Lady Bulldogs 45-41 with 5:11 left in the final period after Bowie State’s junior guard Malaka Cobb sank a pair of free throws.
“We’re the No. 1 ranked defensive team in the country, and we’re going to give teams a tough way to go,” said Fayetteville State head coach Tyreece Brown. “We just showed our fight.”
Fayetteville State (21-4)surged into lead thanks to a three-point basket by junior guard Alivia Evans with 4:14 left and a pair of layups by senior forwards Talia Trotter and Nyah Wilkins to give Fayetteville State a 48-45 lead with 1:51 left in the game.
Bowie State cut the lead to two on a free by Cobb, but the Lady Bulldogs would come no closer. Trotter sank one out of two free throws with eight seconds left.
Fayetteville State held Bowie State to 32 percent for the game. They scored 20 points off 23 Bowie State turnovers.
Wilkins scored 13 points and Trotter added 10 to lead the Lady Broncos. Bowie State was led by Cobb, who scored 14 point and senior Mia Smith, who added 11 points.