Shaw bows out in D2 quarterfinals
The Lady Bears of Shaw saw their great season come to an early end Wednesday night with a 87-73 loss to Central Arkansas in the quarterfinals of the women's NCAA Div. II Elite Eight in Conway, Arkansas.
Jacques Curtis' CIAA and South Atlantic Region champs (32-2) entered the game ranked as the top team in Div. II but couldn't hold off or shut down the 18th-ranked Sugar Bears (28-6) who got outstanding play from Carone Harris (22 points), Caronica Randle (27 points, 12 rebounds) and Mecaela Thomas (17 points, 12 rebounds).
Shaw led by as many as 12, at 29-17 with 8:30 remaining in the first half but surrendered the lead after scoring only three field goals over the last eight minute and trailed 36-35 at the half.
The Lady Bears took a short-lived two-point lead at 42-38 early in the second half but watched the Sugar Bears go on a 19-7 run over the next six minutes to give them a lead they would not relinquish.
Shaw would cut that lead down to 71-67 with 2:40 to play but that was as close as they would get as CAU canned 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch to salt away the victory.
In her final game in a Lady Bear uniform, CIAA Tournament and South Atlantic Region MVP Kiarsha Curtis would again lead Shaw tallying a team-high 20 points. Natassia Boucicault added 15 points while Jessica Hawkins tallied 11.
Central Arkansas fell to Washburn in the national semifinal game. Washburn went on to win the national title on Saturday.
© 2005 Azeez Communications, Inc.