ELIZABETH CITY, NC- The CIAA Tournament brackets are set and the Vikings are headed to Baltimore for the 2021-22 Men's and Women's CIAA Tournament February 21-26, in the Charm City at the Royal Farms Arena.
 
The Lady Vikings will enter the CIAA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament with a 19-6 overall record, 11-5 in the CIAA holding the #2 seed in the Northern Division. 
 
ECSU will receive a bye in the first round before meeting up with the winner of the Virginia Union and Claflin game.
 
Back in October the Lady Vikings were predicted to finish 7^th overall in the CIAA. The Vikings have been regionally ranked nine times throughout the season dispelling that stigma. 
 
The Lions of Lincoln University clinched the top seed in the North while the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University finished at the top of the South.
 
The Vikings ended the regular season yesterday with a 68-50 victory over the Bulldogs of Bowie State University and hit the road for Baltimore, MD bright and early this morning. 
 
"Tourney time, it's one and done," said head coach Tynesha Lewis. "Survive and advance. We will stay true to what we do and see how the ball bounces."
 
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Much of the Vikings success this season can be credited to a few critical things:

• The Lady Vikings have the #1 defense in the CIAA, the Vikings have held their opponents to an average of 57 points. 
• Head Coach Tynesha Lewis has come in and turned things around for the Vikings in her inaugural season at the helm of the program. Player development has been huge considering the growth of the players that returned from that 2019-20 roster that went 12-18 overall, 7-9 in conference.

A Few Players to Watch:

• A huge player to watch for the Vikings will be junior forward Sireann Pitts (Raleigh, NC) Sireann has really grown tremendously in her role for ECSU. Pitts leads the CIAA in blocks with 36 on the season and she is second in the CIAA in rebounds.She is a rebounding machine and will make plays on defense to create chaos for an opposing teams offense. Pitts can also score at the rim and her mid-range jumper is pretty good. 
• The Vikings are a tough team to beat when they're successful down in the paint. Senior forward Naterria Luster (Richmond, VA) is a warrior who can dominate any opponent in the paint. She's battled through injuries and still leads the Vikings in scoring and is ranked at #14 in the CIAA. She leads the Vikings in scoring averaging 10.9 points per game.
• The Vikings will definitely need to minimize turnovers to be productive offensively. You can expect scorers like senior guard Felicia Jackson (Gainesville, FL) who averages 10 points per game to play big minutes. 

Follow Elizabeth City State Athletics via its official website at www.ecsuvikings.com to get pre-and post-game stories and updates.
 
ECSU Athletics is also on social media, follow us on Twitter at @ECSUVikings and Instagram at @ecsusports