THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603020407
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Short : 41 lines
Norfolk State survived a last-minute rally by Winston-Salem State to win 73-71 Friday and advance to tonight's CIAA women's championship game at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.
The Spartanettes (27-1) will meet Shaw (24-3), the only team to beat them (6 p.m., WVBT).
The Spartanettes, who never trailed, led 73-65 with 1:05 left after a free throw by Raymona Jackson, who came off the bench to score 17 points. But the Lady Rams charged back, cutting the lead to two when Nikki Blackwell canned a 3-pointer and Chellia Nelson converted a 3-point play in the next 28 seconds.
Norfolk State's LaMonica Filer missed the front end of a one-and-one. Nelson was called for a charge after bowling over Antoinette Coffey with 18 seconds to play, fouling out with a game-high 25 points.
The Lady Rams (17-11) had one last chance to tie matters, but Michelle Tate's layup with four seconds left rimmed out.
LaTina Bullock led the Spartanettes with 21 points. Michelle Sessoms had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Denettra Parker had 14 points and Blackwell had 12 for the Lady Rams.
In the other semifinal, Ayana Winston had 16 points and seven assists and hit a pair of key free throws with 1:57 to play as Shaw held off Bowie State 64-59.
Kimberly Shaw added 16 points and Kimberly Taylor 15 for Shaw, while Yolanda Matthews and Brenonda Jackson had 11 each for Bowie (20-9), who rallied from 16 points down to within one at 57-56. ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHER REDDICK\The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk State's Raymona Jackson, left, tries to protect the ball
from the long reach of Winston-Salem State's Denettra Parker.
by CNB