JCSU women's basketball led by head coach Stephen Joyner, Jr. improve to 4-4 (.500) after a 57-53 road win against Claflin University
Box Score
Orangeburg, SC – The Johnson C. Smith University women's basketball team pulled out a 57-53 win over Claflin University on Thursday, December 12th at the Tullis Arena. JCSU improves to 4-4 overall, while the Lady Panthers fall to 3-5.
JCSU grabbed an early lead and held on until the second half. Freshman forward
Kaila Duarte (Boston, MA) scored a jumper in the lane off a pass from senior guard
Karnina Bunch (Vicksburg, MS) for a 6-5 advantage with 16:09 on the clock. Junior guard
Shanel Sweet (Land O'Lakes, FL) increased the Golden Bulls' lead with a three pointer on the next possession.
Brittani Goodwin made two free throws for Claflin with 14:18 remaining in the first half. The Lady Panthers did not score another point until the 5:06 mark of the period. Meanwhile, JCSU produced 11 unanswered points during the drought for Claflin.
Bunch made a three-pointer with 1:22 before halftime; the last JCSU field goal in the first half. Claflin trailed at the break 25-15. Goodwin and Uniqua Mitchell each had six points for Claflin in the opening.
JCSU shot 34.8% (8-23) from the field, but the Lady Panthers only connected on 14% (4-28) of their shot attempts. The Golden Bulls held a 29-17 first half rebounding advantage. Bunch had six points and three rebounds, followed by Duarte with four points and three boards.
The second half appeared to still be controlled by the Golden Bulls. A jumper from junior center
Chelsea Faulhaber (Spartanburg, SC) moved JCSU ahead 44-29 with 11:23 left in the game. From that moment, Claflin sparked a 19-3 scoring run to grab a 48-47 lead with 2:11 remaining.
Faulhaber made a layup at the 9:49 mark and Bunch hit one free throw with 7:17 on the clock. Those were the last JCSU scores until there was only 1:51 left in the contest. Bunch reclaimed a 50-48 advantage for the Golden Bulls with a three-pointer. Including the three-pointer, Bunch scored nine consecutive points with less than two minutes to play.
Two free throws made by Bunch with 22 seconds remaining had JCSU ahead 56-53. Senior guard
Deanna Downer (Elberton, GA) sealed the win with a steal with less than 10 seconds on the clock. Downer was fouled and made one of two foul shot attempts. The free throw accounted for the 57-53 final score.
The Golden Bulls ended the game shooting 37.5% (18-48) from the floor and 54.8% (17-31) from the foul line.
Bunch finished with a game-high 23 points, along with five rebounds and three assists. Downer had nine points and seven rebounds. Duarte pitched in six points and five boards.
JCSU returns to action on Wednesday, December 18th against The Lincoln University. This will be the first conference contest of the season for Johnson C. Smith University. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside Brayboy Gymnasium.
