Box Score CHARLOTTE, NC- Shaw University secured a spot in the CIAA Championship game with an 86-77 victory over Chowan University on Friday afternoon.  The Lady Bears entered the contest as the No. 1 seed out of the CIAA Southern Division while the Hawks were the No. 2 seed from the Northern Division.  Shaw advances with a 24-6 overall record while the Hawks move to 20-8 on the year after Friday's setback. 

Jacques Curtis, Head Coach at Shaw University noted, "We got off to a good start. We knew it was going to be a tough game for us as Chowan is one of the stronger teams in the conference. We pride ourselves on playing good defense and the team did a good job tonight, especially in the first half despite us giving second chances in the second half."

Chowan University Head Coach Patrick Mashuda added, "Today was a tale of two halves for sure. The team that played with the greatest energy won each half…Hats of to Shaw, they shot the ball very well.  We gave Shaw everything we had in the second half and really just ran out of time…This is a great learning experience for the younger players on our team.  I thought they handled the adversity of the first half well in the second half."

Kaula Jacks paced Shaw with a team-high 19 points while Aaliyah Mercer added 16 points in the win.  Laquisha Taylor and Eboni Ross both notched 13 points for the Lady Bears with Ross grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds (three offensive, nine defensive).

Alisha Mobley drained 19 points for the Hawks in the setback while grabbing nine rebounds (three offensive, six defensive).  Dhyamond Crenshaw scored 15 points for the Chowan Blue and White while Jada Lee and Shaikeyla Jordan added 14 points and 12 points, respectively.  Jordan Payne netted 11 points for the Hawks and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds (seven offensive, four defensive). 

Both teams combined for a total of 47 turnovers over the course of the competition.  The Lady Bears scored 25 points off of 23 turnovers while the Hawks netted 15 points of 24 turnovers.

Shaw came out firing at the start of the contest, racing to an 8-0 run behind back-to-back three pointers by Fantasha Tyson and Tabatha Anderson followed by Jacks' layup.  A bucket by Payne put the Hawks on the board at the 7:58 mark in the first quarter.  Two free throws by Jacks pushed the Lady Bears ahead 10-2 but Lee answered with a three-pointer for the Hawks to cut Shaw's lead to five points. 

With Shaw holding a 12-7 edge, a jumper by Mercer and three-pointer by Michelle Wright gave the Lady Bears a 17-7 advantage.  The Hawks chipped away at the deficit to pull within six points (19-13) after back-to-back three-pointers by Mobley but Shaw held a 23-14 lead after the first ten minutes of play. 

Payne opened the second quarter with a layup before the Lady Bears responded with an 11-0 runto give Shaw a commanding 34-16 lead midway through the second quarter.  Jordan ended the scoring drought for the Hawks with a layup but the Lady Bears used a bucket by Mercer to maintain a comfortable advantage for Shaw. 

At the 3:13 mark, with the Hawks trailing 36-19, Shaw was relentless in their attack, building their lead to as many as 25 points (46-21) with 13 seconds on the clock.  Mobley hit a free throw at the end of the second quarter but the Hawks headed into the locker room looking to recover from a 46-22 deficit at the halftime break. 

Chowan and Shaw exchanged baskets at the start of the third quarter.  With the Hawks trailing 54-28 at the 6:34 mark, a three-pointer by Jordan sparked an 10-0 run for the Chowan Blue and White to make the score 54-38 by the midway mark of the third quarter.  Sixteen points was as close as the Hawks would get as the Lady Bears carried a 67-48 advantage heading into the final ten minutes of play. 

Chowan refused to go away quietly in the final quarter of the game.  With Shaw holding a 68-48 lead, Jordan's three-pointer for Chowan led to a  10-0 run for the Hawks, making the score 68-58 with 7:59 left to play.  Ross hit a jumper to end the scoring drought for Shaw but Mobley drained a three-pointer for the Hawks to bring Chowan within nine points (70-61) with 7:23 on the clock. 

Two free throws by Anderson, one by Mercer and a jumper by Jacks extended Shaw's advantage to 75-61 with 5:46 left to play.  Chowan and Shaw exchanged baskets for the remainder of the contest but the Lady Bears maintained a lead of 10 points or more for the remainder of the game before securing the 86-77 victory. 

With Chowan holding a No. 6 Atlantic Region ranking, the Hawks await word of an at-large bid to the Atlantic Regional Tournament.  The Hawks have enjoyed a historic season; recording 20 wins for the first time in program history, earning an NCAA Atlantic Region ranking for the first time, and making a trip to the CIAA semifinal for the first time since the 2011-12 season. 

Shaw advances to the CIAA Championship game on Saturday, February 27^th.  Tip-off is slated for 4:00pm in Time Warner Cable Arena.  The Lady Bears, making their fifth straight trip to the title game in the last six years, will take on the winner of Friday's Virginia Union University/Livingstone College semifinal game.