CIAA, SIAC women’s races all but decided as regular season play ends this week
Women’s teams in the CIAA and SIAC will get in their final blows this week as regular season play comes to a halt on Saturday.
The CIAA men’s and women’s tournaments are set to tip off February 24-28 at the CFG Arena in downtown Baltimore, Maryland.
The SIAC Tournaments begin on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the homes of the highest seeds and then shifts to the Clayton County Civic Center in Morrow, Ga. from March 4-7 for the quarterfinal to championship rounds.
Here’s a look at those women’s standings headed into the final week.
CIAA Women
Five teams, three in the North Division and two in the South Division have winning records in divisional play that will land them top seeds for the tourney in Baltimore.
Headed into games this week, Virginia State and Bowie State are tied for the N. Div. lead at 7-1 with Virginia Union (5-3) two games behind.
A N. Div. showdown Wednesday (Feb. 18) had VSU travelling to BSU with the winner likely to grab the tournament’s N. Div. top seed. VSU handed BSU its only division loss at home on Jan. 21, 74-55. VSU’s only division loss was 91-87 at home to high-scoring (league-best 79.0 ppg.) Bluefield State on Jan. 31.
Even with a win over Bowie State Wednesday, VSU is not guaranteed the division’s top seed because it closes the regular season at VUU Saturday. VSU came from ten points down in the second half to narrowly defeat VUU 68-66 in their Jan. 17 meeting in Richmond, Va.
BSU hosts Lincoln (PA) to close out its regular season.
In the South, Winston-Salem State and Fayetteville State are three-and-a-half games ahead of everyone else in the division, both at 7-1 with their lone losses against each other in their head-to-head battles. They will be the top seeds from the South.
FSU halted WSSU’s 16-game win streak with a 72-57 win at home in Fayetteville on Jan. 27. WSSU evened the score with the Lady Broncos in a 50-36 home win on Feb. 7.
First-year head coach Tierra Terry has engineered a remarkable turnaround at WSSU, taking a team that finished 7-20 a year ago and turning it into a 19-2 juggernaut this season. The Lady Rams are the only black college team ranked in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) NCAA Div. II national poll at 18th. Their only other loss this season was at North Carolina A&T 74-43 to open the season on Nov. 16.
WSSU closes out the regular season on the road at J. C. Smith Wednesday and at Livingstone Saturday. FSU is also on the road at Claflin Wednesday and at Shaw Saturday.
SIAC Women
Edward Waters in the East and Miles in the West are both 19-3 in their respective divisions and on top of the standings. They have both wrapped up top seeds for the upcoming tournament.
The EWU Lady Tigers are riding a 12-game winning streak and currently boast a two-and-a-half game lead over Clark Atlanta (16-5) in the East. Second-year head coach Eric Jackson Jr. has been the engine behind the Tigers’ rise.
In his first season, he led EWU to a 16-9 overall mark and 12-9 record in conference play, the first winning records as a member of the SIAC and NCAA Division II. His squad has particularly been efficient on defense where they surrender a league-best 49.0 points per game more than eight points less than any other team in the conference.
Six-one senior power forward Shcira Fowles anchors the defense, averaging 10.0 rebounds per game, tops in the league. Five-five junior point guard Imani Harris averages 11.3 points per game and dishes out 3.5 assists per game, tied for third in the league. Junior shooting guard Tan Brown is the team’s scoring leader (14.0 ppg.) and is the SIAC’s top 3-point shooter at 34.6% and 3-point maker at 2.5 per game.
Clark Atlanta features the league’s top scorer (18.3 ppg.) and likely player of the year in 5-10 junior forward Atreonia Garner. Garner is also fourth in the SIAC at 7.8 rebounds per game and second in field goal percentage (.537).
EWU has two West Division showdowns remaining on their schedule. They face division leader Miles Thursday and then travel to third-place Tuskegee (11-11) Saturday to close out the season. Clark Atlanta also finishes on the road at W. Div. foes LeMoyne-Owen Thursday and Lane Saturday.
Miles has a three-game lead over second-place Lane (15-5) in the West. The Lady Golden Bears, hosting Edward Waters Thursday, then host Savannah State to close out the regular season. Lane hosts Fort Valley State before its meeting with CAU.
