By:James Scott, VSU Sports Information
The Lady Trojans allowed the Lady Panthers of Virginia Union to shoot 45% from the field in a 59-48 upset win for the Lady Panthers in Richmond, VA on Thursday, Jan. 26. Virginia State shot a poor 25% from the field but hit seven treys from downtown with both Brianna Holt (junior/ Selmer, TN) and Da'shae Jones (freshman/ Norfolk, VA) nailing three each.
The first half turned into a slug fest as both teams fought hard for every point. Da'Shae Jones provided a spark off the bench in the first half knocking down two trey's from three-point land. She led the Lady Trojans first half scoring with 9 points, making three of her first four baskets from the floor.
At the 10:02 mark in the first half, Jones knocked down her second tri-fecta giving the Lady Trojans a six point lead (15-9). After an offensive rebound from Virginia State's Shantel Crout (junior/ Memphis, TN), she gets fouled and knocks down both free-throws giving the Lady Trojans their biggest lead of the first half (20-13).
The Lady Trojans continued to apply pressure defensively throughout the first half forcing the Lady Panthers into 11 turnovers, but Virginia Union shot 40% from the floor. The Lady Panthers went on a late 10-2 run to take the lead going into the half (27-24).
The Lady Trojans opened the second half continuing their offensive struggles from the first half going 3 for 10 shot attempts from the field. With 12:44 left to play in regulation Virginia Union's Vicki Collier made a jumper in the lane to spark a Lady Panthers 7-0 run exploding to a 47-37 advantage, their biggest lead of the night. After a Lady Panther turnover VSU guard, Marquilla Evans (senior/ Portsmouth) nailed a quick three-point basket to end the Virginia Union rally. The Lady Trojans continued to fight it out until the end in a valiant effort but just could not come up with the defensive stops when it counted the most. Virginia Union (6-10, 3-5) defeated their close rivals Virginia State (9-9, 1-5), 59-48 in Barco-Stevens Hall.
Mariame Sylla (senior/ Ivory Coast, West Africa) recorded her sixth double-double of the season for the Lady Trojans with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Both Da'shae Jones and Brianna Holt also entered double-figure scoring with 12 and 11 points respectively.
The win marked the first time Virginia Union has defeated Virginia State in women's basketball since January 20, 2007, a span of eight games. The Lady Trojans shot poorly all night accumulating a season-low 24% from the field, while allowing the Lady Panthers to shoot 44% from the field.
Virginia State looks to regroup after dropping two straight games, on Saturday, Jan. 28 in Elizabeth City, NC against the Lady Vikings at 3 p.m.
