Story courtesy of the CIAA

BALTIMORE – Dy'Jhanik Armfield scored 20 points as No. 5 seed Elizabeth City State survived a late rally to eke out a 53-52 women's semifinal victory over No. 8 seed Johnson C. Smith in the CIAA Tournament at CFG Bank Arena on Friday.

The win sends the Vikings (19-10 overall) to the championship game for the second consecutive year. They will vie for their first-ever CIAA Tournament crown against the Lincoln (Pa.)-Shaw winner on Saturday at 4 p.m. Last year, Lincoln (Pa.) defeated ECSU in the finals.

Armfield, the Food Lion Game MVP, helped the Vikings build a 47-38 lead heading into the fourth period before the Golden Bulls made things interesting. They mounted a furious rally to pull within 53-52 on two free throws by La'Zarea Bowens with 1:34 left.

The Golden Bulls had a chance to complete the comeback after the Vikings misfired on two three-point attempts. JCSU gained possession with approximately 30 seconds remaining but Shaniya Jones, the CIAA scoring leader, missed a three-point shot. After a mad scramble on the floor, Jessica Adams fell on the loose ball and called a timeout with 0.3 seconds left.
After the timeout, the Vikings in-bounded the ball on their side of the court to seal the win.

Maryam Hashim added nine points for the Vikings, who outscored JCSU 22-4 in bench points and 26-18 in points in the paint. Bowens, an All-CIAA forward, finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Jones, an All-CIAA guard, added 16 points for JCSU, who scored 23 points on 21 Viking turnovers.

The Golden Bulls completed their season at 13-16 overall.