Terran Quattlebaum was named Food Lion MVP for her team-high 15 points, including 4-for-4 shooting from the 3-PT line in the 71-52 quarterfinal win over Chowan
CIAA Quarterfinals Box vs. Chowan
Charlotte, NC – The Johnson C. Smith University women's basketball team advance to the semifinals of the 2011 CIAA Women's Basketball Tournament with an opening round 71-52 victory against Chowan University on Tuesday evening inside Time Warner Cable Arena. JCSU improves to 23-3 overall and play Bowie State University on Friday, March 4th at 3:00 p.m. in the TWC Arena.
Junior guard
Terran Quattlebaum (Mitchellville, MD) was open on the wing. She got the pass, and didn't think twice. Quattlebaum let the 3-point shot fly and only drew net.
Eleven seconds into the game, the Johnson C. Smith Lady Golden Lions were ahead 3-0, and the rest of the game seemed almost as effortless as Quattlebaum's first jump shot as the Southern Division champion ran away from Chowan for the entire contest.
“I'm extremely proud of our team effort,” said Golden Bulls coach
Vanessa Taylor, the CIAA Coach of the Year. “We just shot the ball extremely well in the first half.”
Quattlebaum was just one of several scorers for the Lady Golden Bulls, who opened the game on a 17-2 run and were only threatened once. Quattlebaum finished with 15 points, 12 of them in the first half, where she made three 3-point shots. Junior guard
Terrica Jones (Raleigh, NC) scored all nine of her points in the opening period while junior guard and All-CIAA selection
LaQwesha Gamble (Winter Haven, FL) finished with eight points and eight rebounds, much of it done in the first half as well. Senior guard
Tyra Breaux (Baltimore, MD) added 10 points, eight of which came in the second half.
Johnson C. Smith will play the North's No. 2 seed Bowie State in the semifinals. Bowie State knocked off Winston-Salem State 63-56 earlier Tuesday. The semifinal game will take place at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Chowan (15-13), which rallied from a 19-point first-half deficit to beat Livingstone in the opening round on Monday, made one attempt at a comeback against the Golden Bulls (23-3). Ransheda Jennings (Jr., Suffolk, VA) scored five points to spark an 11-0 Hawks run to bring Chowan back into the game, 17-13, with 10:42 remaining in the first half.
But the Lady Golden Bulls quickly put the run on the skids, getting a three-point play from Gamble and back-to-back 3s from Quattlebaum to make up a 9-2 spurt and put Johnson C. Smith back in front by double-digits, 26-15, with 9:22 to go in the period.
“Chowan is a team that is not going to go away,” said Taylor. “They were down 19 points and fought back to get to the next round. That was our first reminder at halftime.”
Later in the half, Jones drilled a 3 and Quattlebaum made an off-balance jumper that led to a three-point play, putting the Lady Golden Bulls, who made five of their first six 3-point attempts, comfortably ahead 41-25 at the half.
Quattlebaum stayed hot through the break, coming out in the second half to nail another 3 – her fourth in her fourth attempt – barely 90 seconds into the period to give the Golden Bulls a 46-27 lead.
“Coach always talks about doing what you do best,” said Quattlebaum. “I was able to do what I do best, our team was able to do what it does best, and we won.”
Chowan managed to score seven of nine points in one stretch to close within 14 points at the 15-minute mark, but Johnson C. Smith had an answer for that minor run as well. The Golden Bulls ripped off an 18-5 spurt, featuring a nifty runner and a dazzling layup by Breaux for a 66-39 JCSU lead – its largest -- with 7:13 remaining in the game.
Chowan's Jennings finished with 17 points to lead all players. Danielle Coleman (So., Virginia Beach, VA) added 10 points and five rebounds.
