CIAA basketball tournament Saturday roundup: Fayetteville State women win 5th title

In a battle of who would blink first, it was the Fayetteville State women who carried the day.

The Broncos outscored defending champion Elizabeth City State, 20-16, in a hectic fourth quarter to take the CIAA Tournament title with a 64-59 win at CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore on Saturday.

Keayna McLaughlin, the game’s Most Valuable Player, led the Broncos with 17 points. The Vikings were led by 16 points from Alanis Hill.

The championship is the fifth for Fayetteville State, which last won the title in 2020. The Broncos earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

“It’s a blessing,” coach Tyreece Brown said. “It’s always tough to win championships. I’m so proud of this group.”

Fayetteville State won the title despite being outrebounded 49-30. No team had more than a six-point lead at any point in the game.

The Vikings made the first run. With Fayetteville State leading 9-7, Elizabeth City State got back-to-back 3-pointers by Isa Banks and Rasheka Simmons and then two free throws by Jania Thompson to take a 15-9 lead with 2:12 left in the first quarter.

The Broncos responded, going on a 10-4 run of their own keyed by a layup-and-one by McLaughlin to tie the score at 19 with 5:50 left in the half.

Elizabeth City State hit right back, scoring six of the next eight points to retake the lead at 24-21 with 2:21 left. Fayetteville State scored the next seven points, keyed by a 3-pointer by Aniylah Bryant, to close out the half leading 28-24.

The Broncos outshot the Vikings 35.7% to 22.6% from the field in the first half.

Both teams came out shooting in the third quarter, but it was Fayetteville State that took a four-point lead on a layup by Nyah Wilkins with 4:41 left. The Vikings took the lead right back, using a 3-pointer by Simmons and two free throws to go up 41-40 with 3:25 left. The Broncos went ahead 44-43 heading into the fourth quarter.

The teams were tied at 52 with 6:29 left before ECSU took a brief lead with two free throws, 54-52, with 4:54 remaining.

Brown said being down so late in the game did not faze his team.

“It was still five minutes left, so nobody got down. Nobody panicked,” Brown said. “We had a great group of players who believed. We’ve been hot in the mouth before.”

Fayetteville State scored the next six points, four by Bryant and two by Talia Trotter, to grab the lead for good at 58-54 with 2:14 left.

Elizabeth City State still made another run. Trailing 60-56, NyAsia Blango hit a long 3-pointer from two feet beyond the arc to cut the lead with 60-59 with 36.6 seconds left. That was as close as the Vikings would come, as McLauglin and Daziyahna Wilson hit layups down the stretch to preserve the win.

Elizabeth City State coach Tynesha Lewis said that even though her team didn’t win, she still appreciated the effort of her players.

“We’re grateful for opportunity to be here,” Lewis said. “This is a tough loss for a lot of reasons, we missed a lot of chippies against a quality team. You just can’t do that and win.”

Championship action 2024 CIAA basketball tournament | PHOTOS

This story will be updated.