Lady Golden Bulls Squeak by Elizabeth City State, 52-47
JCSU Remains Undefeated in Conference Play
Kristene Kelly
November 27, 2007

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. –  – Vanessa Taylor took her Johnson C. Smith University (3-1, 2-0 CIAA) women’s basketball team 335 miles to her former stomping grounds – Elizabeth City State University. There she found the Lady Vikings, a team that knocked her out of the CIAA Tournament last year. Led by the efforts of Kyria Buford (Charlotte, N.C.), the Lady Golden Bulls were able to squeak by ECSU, 52-47 and remain undefeated in conference play.

Though JCSU started the contest on an 11-4 run, the fierce Lady Vikings battled back to go on a 19-6 run over the course of 12 minutes to take a 25-17 lead. Turnovers seemed to have plagued both teams in the first half as JCSU committed 20 and ECSU 17. Smith would not go into the half quietly and scored six more points making the score 26-23 in favor of ECSU.

Fortunately for JCSU, there are always two halves to a game. ECSU (1-1, 0-1 CIAA) once again swelled the lead to as many as eight points but the hungry Smithites would not go away. Johnson C. Smith University pulled away late in the second half and held on to beat ECSU 52-47.

Smith controlled the boards out-rebounding ECSU 38 to 34. Celeste Trahan led the Lady Vikings with 11 points and 12 rebounds while Shaquella Johnson and Cheniece Arthur chipped in 13 and 10 points respectively.

Buford scored a season and career high 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting. She has scored in double figures in every game since putting on the Golden Bulls uniform four games ago. She narrowly missed a double-double with eight rebounds. Senior Rochelle Bodie (Raleigh, N.C.) had nine rebounds and three blocks in the contest. Freshman Ashley Young-Jones (Asheville, N.C.) made her presence felt as she contributed five points, three rebounds, stole the ball four times, and dished out two assists in the thrilling victory.

JCSU moves on to face non-conference opponent Claflin University this Sunday, December 2, 2007. Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m. in Brayboy Gymnasium.

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