Salisbury, N.C. (Jan. 11, 2024)-Playing their first game inside the top-10 the Virginia State University (14-1, 6-1 CIAA) women's basketball team dominated Livingstone College (2-7, 1-5 CIAA) 73-63.

After going into halftime with a buzzer beater by Mijhae Hayes with a one-point advantage, 34-33, the Trojans started the second half off on a hot start. They started off the third period with a 9-2 run to get their advantage up to nine points, 43-35. Livingstone would make the score 43—40 but at the 4:26 mark a three-pointer by Skylar White got the lead back to eight points, 48-40. The following two minutes the teams traded baskets, but with just 26 seconds left Mekayla Furman hit a jumper to make the score 54-47 going into the final stanza. 

To open the final ten minutes both teams were playing back and forth with neither team grabbing hold of the momentum. A pair of foul shots by Hayes with just under three minutes left finally gave VSU a double-digit advantage at 70-59. Another foul shot by Hayes gave the Trojans their largest lead of the night, 14 points, 73-59 with just 2:32 left.  

Tiyanna James led the team with 18 points, Hayes contributed 15 points and Amesha Miller had eight points and the same number of rebounds. The Trojans scored 27 points off the Blue Bears' 20 turnovers, scoring eight in the second and fourth quarters. 

Next for Virginia State will be a home game against Newport News Apprentice on Tuesday January 16 at 5:30 p.m.