UNDER THE BANNER
What's Going On In and Around Black College Sports
SHAW ADVANCES TO E8: The Lady Bears of
Shaw punched their ticket for the women's
NCAA Div. II 
basketball Elite Eight when they swept to a
67-53 win Monday night over Carson-Newman to win
the championship of the South Atlantic Region. The
Lady Bears (32-1), the region's top seed and host, disposed of
its first two opponents by an average margin of 28 points
but had a tougher time with the third-seeded Lady Eagles
(25-8), who jumped out to a 17-8 lead midway through the
first half. Shaw fought back however, gaining its first lead
at 27-26 with two-and-a-half minutes left, a lead it
never relinquished. After settling for a 34-26 haltime margin,
they built that to 58-38 midway through the second half.
Though CNU would cut the lead to 58-49 with 4:18 remaining,
they could get no closer. CIAA Tournament Most
Valuable Player and South Atlantic Region Player of the Year,
Kiarsha Curtis paced the Lady Bears with 22 points and added
the Region Tournament MVP to her honors. Natassia
Boucicault added ten points while Jessica Hawkins
added nine points and a team-high ten rebounds. Shaw will have a more than
a week off before they face South Region winner,
Central Arkansas (27-6), in the Elite Eight national quarterfinals
in Hot Springs, Ar., on Wednesday March 23.
CIAA TO GET ANOTHER: CIAA Tournament champion Virginia Union (26-4) and Region top-seed and CIAA E. Div. champ Bowie State (26-4) met Tuesday at BSU's Jordan Center for the championship of the NCAA Div. II South Atlantic Region and a spot in the men's Elite Eight set to begin March 23 in Grand Forks, N.D. Both VUU and BSU survived quarterfinal round scares, VUU coming back from an early 20-2 deficit to knock off Catawba and BSU needing overtime to subdue Tusculum. The teams won their semifinal matchups easily. BSU has won both meetings with VUU this season, 80-65 in their first meeting in Richmond and 95-94 in overtime at BSU. With the E. Div. rivals battling for the Regional title, the CIAA is sure to have teams in both the men's and women's Elite Eight.
ST. AUG'S AGAIN: St. Augustine's women won the NCAA Div. II Indoor Track & Field championships scoring 53 points while the men's team finished fifth in competition held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston.
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