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Lady Trojans Pounce on Lady Pioneers The VSU Lady Trojans traveled to Takoma Park, Maryland to take on the Lady Pioneers of Columbia Union College. Although the chilly conditions called for a light jacket, articles of clothing were removed once fans greeted the offensive flame ignited by VSU. The Lady Trojans presided over Columbia Union with a 73 – 54 defeat. The opening tip-off was tapped by #52 Areyal Hall to #43 Felicia Gibbs. However, CU’s second leading scorer, #23 Crystal Payne, contributed the game’s first basket making 1 of 2 free throws. The Lady Pioneers would jump to a 4 – 0 lead with #31 Bethany Sloat’s long range three-pointer. At 17:37, in attempts to regroup the thinking pattern of her players, VSU’s Coach Stephanie Evans asked the referee for a timeout. The 30 second motivational message was immediately applied as Lady Trojan #21 Erica Glasper fired back-to-back three-pointers; giving VSU a 6 – 4 advantage. The Lady Pioneers dropped points here and there to lead 11 – 8 and forced VSU, within five minutes of their first timeout, to take yet another timeout. Columbia Union did not signal their first timeout until the 5:35 mark when they trailed VSU 10 – 15. After CU’s #23 Crystal Payne sunk a floater, VSU’s #20 Jennifer Rhodan would be fouled as she knocked down a jumper. “Run and Gun” Rhodan’s completion of the three-point play gave VSU a 21 – 19 lead. Shortly thereafter, Lady Trojan #24 Ravin Yancey recorded a steal to streak down the court for the lay-up. The first half’s second time would occur at 51 seconds. Lady Pioneer #12 Cheryl Cathlin shot an unsuccessful fade away three-pointer. Luckily, teammate #23 Crystal Payne was there to grab the rebound and toss in two points. Then, VSU’s #52 Areyal Hall collected an offensive rebound and a basket. Her made post jumper broke the 22 – 22 tie and gave VSU a two-point lead. With just six seconds remaining, #23 Crystal Payne pulled up from behind the arc to hit nothing but the bottom of the net. Her made three pointer allowed the Lady Pioneers to parade into half-time leading 25 – 24. Early in the second half of play, CU’s #12 Cheryl Cathlin contributed a 15 foot field goal to make the score 27 – 24. It would be Lady Trojan #20 Jennifer Rhodan that would reappear to give the game its fifth and final tie at 27 – 27. The tie would be the lowest point deficit the Lady Pioneers would have for the rest of the game because from then on… it was ALL VSU! Between their plethora of put-backs and their ability to destruct Columbia Union with defensive dominance, the Lady Trojans heavily clouded any hopes for victory the Lady Pioneers may have had. Leading 32 – 27, VSU began to operate as though they were routinely performing practice procedures. CU managed to break the press, but VSU’s #24 Ravin Yancey was right there to rob the Lady Pioneer ball handler. Yancey tight roped the out-of-bounds line and was focused enough to pass her steal to #21 Erica Glasper. Glasper galloped down court and pulled up at the free throw line, but only to pass to #`10 Asheley Alexander. Alexander would then tap the ball to an approaching #52 Areyal Hall as she kissed the ball off the glass. CU’s Coach Donna Polk called for a timeout at 10:40 as VSU was up 41 – 31. The Lady Pioneers would not water their scoring drought until 11:29 when #4 Jasmine Johnson paused at the free throw line to sink a last second jumper. However, the Lady Trojans had a starving appetite for victory and being up by 10 was not enough. VSU’s #53 Areyal Hall and #34 Laurice Lockhart tattooed their names all over the painted area of Columbia Union. Hall signed with her signature spin move to the basket as Lockhart released eloquent rainbows for two-points.The Lady Trojans’ Tag Team Towers shared the success, as VSU’s entire unit played as an unstoppable force. With their largest lead of 23 points, Coach Evans refreshed her offense with substitutions from her “secret stash.” Coach Evans overdraft protection players consisted of #1 Caromekia Parker, #12 Tishell Blakney, #5 Alexandra Street, #22 Chernise Harris, and frequent starter #43 Felicia “Stretch” Gibbs. The well-rested recruits continued masterfully in maintaining the Lady Trojans momentum and lead margin. With the Lady Pioneer’s leading scorer #3 Jada Richardson, averaging 19 points per game, at home nursing a cold, and other key players scripted on their laundry list of injuries, #23 Crystal Payne was assigned the responsibility to be the sergeant in scoring for Columbia Union. And that she did. Payne’s downpour was totaled 21 points. Other scoring contributions were supplied by #12 Cheryl Cathlin with 14 points, and #31 Bethany Sloat with 10 points. Leading offensively for the Lady Trojans was #52 Areyal “Can’t Stop Me” Hall with 22 points. #20 Jennifer Rhodan dropped 18 points while teammates #21 Erica Glasper made 12 points and #34 Laurice Lockhart had 10 points. #24 Ravin Yancy wore the crown of Assist Queen with her seven assists.
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