CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Chowan Women's Basketball team rallied from a halftime deficit to hold off St. Augustine's in the CIAA Tournament Opening Round contest on Tuesday afternoon.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 75, St. Augustine's 70

RECORDS | Chowan 19-8, St. Augustine's 7-19

LOCATION | Charlotte, N.C. (Bojangles' Coliseum)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Mariah Coker and Danielle Weldon led the Hawks with 17 points each.  Chantel Roberts picked up her 11th double-double of the season with 11 points and 16 rebounds.  Joanne Williams added a double-double on the afternoon with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

The Hawks outscored the Falcons 42-32 in the second half.  Chowan used a season-best 20-26 (76.9%) from the free throw line including 15-18 (83.3%) in the second half.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter:

After allowing an opening basket by the Falcons, Danielle Weldon scored back-to-back baskets to give the Hawks a 4-2 lead.  Joanne Williams pushed the lead to 6-2 with a basket in the paint.

St. Augustine's regained the lead with a 6-0 run before Chantel Roberts collected her first basket of the contest to spark a 9-2 run.  Danielle Weldon knocked down a trey along with a put-back by Roberts pushed the lead to 13-10 late in the quarter.  Weldon added a pair from the stripe during the spurt.

The Falcons trimmed the deficit to one, 15-14, with a minute to play in the quarter.  Joanne Williams converted a pair for the line as the Hawks led 17-16 at the buzzer.

Second Quarter:

Joanne Williams started the scoring for the Hawks to keep CU in front.  Jordan Pettaway knocked down a three-pointer to off-set the basket in the paint by the Falcons.  Mariah Coker scored the Hawks' next six points to push ahead 28-21.

After strong post play by Danielle Weldon and Joanne Williams, the Falcons rallied to take the lead with a 12-1 run to end the quarter.

St. Augustine's led 38-33 at intermission.

Third Quarter:

Danielle Weldon knocks down a pair from the stripe to start the half for the Hawks.  Back-to-back turnovers and fast breaks by Mariah Coker allow Chowan to regain the lead 39-38 and force a timeout by St. Augustine's just 1:09 into the quarter.

Chantel Roberts continued the scoring with a basket off the third turnover in the quarter by the Falcons.  St. Augustine's responded with a quick spurt.  Roberts added a pair from the stripe to tie the game at 43-all.

The back-and-forth battle continued as Jada Lee and Joanne Williams flipped the lead to Chowan 49-47.  Dhyamond Crenshaw and Mariah Coker continued to keep the Hawks in front with baskets in the paint.

St. Augustine's would get a bucket at the buzzer to lead 60-59 heading to the final stanza.

Fourth Quarter:

Danielle Weldon produced back-to-back baskets to hand the lead back to the Hawks, 63-62, with 7:23 remaining.  Chantel Roberts scored on the next possession to give Chowan some room.

Chowan opened the lead to 67-62 following another strong post move by Danielle Weldon.  Mariah Coker pushed the lead to six, 70-64, with just over two minutes remaining.

The Falcons chipped away at the deficit with under a minute to play, 71-70, but Jada Lee would ice the contest with four free throws to hold off the rally.

UP NEXT

Chowan will face the top-seeded Virginia Union in the CIAA quarterfinals on Wednesday, February 28.  Tip-off is slated for 2:20pm inside the Bojangles' Coliseum.