Box Score

PEMBROKE, NC – In what seems to be a common occurrence, the Chowan University Women's Basketball team played a wire-to-wire game that came down to the final seconds.  Chowan went 5-6 at the free throw line in the final minute of play to secure a 54-49 victory over UNC-Pembroke on Wednesday.
 
With the win, the Hawks move to 4-5 and have won three of their past four games.  UNC-Pembroke falls to 3-4 on the season. 
 
Ransheda Jennings had a huge final minute, recording a blocked shot and a steal, as well as the final two points of the game.  She finished with 15 points, eight rebounds, and a team-high six steals.
 
“Our defense won the game for us,” said Head Coach Patrick Mashuda.  “I thought we had great pressure on the ball all game, and when you put such an active defender like Ransheda on the ball-handler late in the game, it disrupts the entire offense at that point”
 
Talaya Lynch scored a team-high 16 points, including three treys and going 5-6 from the free throw line.  She also grabbed a team high nine rebounds.  Janelle Murphy joined Jennings and Lynch in double figures with 11 points.  She was a perfect 3-3 from the free throw line.
 
As a team, the Hawks shot 12-16 from the charity stripe.  Ten of those 12 makes came in the second half. 
 
Chowan is now 3-1 this season in games decided by five points or less.  “Our kids have great character and that's what showed tonight,” said Mashuda.  “We faced a lot of adversity tonight but we kept believing and kept playing.”
 
Chowan struggled from the floor in the first half.  After a 1-8 shooting start, Murphy drained a three-pointer at the 14:59 mark to bring the Chowan deficit to 8-6.  Anya Knower made a free throw with 10:56 remaining in the half to bring the UNC-P lead to 14-6.  From there, though, the Lady Braves went on a 0-7 drought from the floor.  They did not make their next shot until just 1:08 showed on the clock.
 
The Lady Braves only lost the lead once, however, thanks to equally poor shooting from Chowan.  The Hawks made just one of their final 15 shots in the first half, leading to a 22-19 deficit at halftime. Chowan shot just 7-37 (18.9%) from the floor in the half.
 
The second half was much different.  Chowan shot 39.3% from the floor, leading to 35 second half points. 
 
“It was a matter of us taking good shots,” added Mashuda.  “In the first half we took the first available shot, not necessarily the best shot.  In the second half we tried to make the defense work.  We were able to penetrate some gaps and some of our shooters made some big shots.”
 
After falling behind 29-24 with 15:27 on the second half clock, the Hawks scored eight straight points to take a 32-29 lead.  The teams traded baskets from that point, but Lynch drained a three-pointer with 3:23 on the clock to build a 47-43 lead.
 
Lynch came right back with two free throws to give Chowan a 49-47 lead with 56 seconds to play, setting up the defense's late-game heroics.
 
Chowan forced 26 turnovers, while committing only 18.  Coming into the game, the Hawks ranked first in the CIAA and sixth in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense, and held UNC-P to 36.0% shooting.
 
Naima Harrington scored four points and grabbed five rebounds for Chowan.  T'Arra Cutting added five points and four rebounds.  Summer Curtis, who is leading the CIAA with 2.5 blocked shots per game, recorded two more tonight.
 
Domonique Washington recorded a double-double for the Lady Braves with 15 points and ten rebounds.  Courtney Bolton led UNC-P with 15 points.
 
Chowan will return to play on Sunday, December 18^th when they host Bloomfield College at 1:00pm.