Virginia Union, led by tournament MVP Kiana Johnson, are the 2016 CIAA Women’s Basketball Champions… and they’re probably exhausted.
The Lady Panthers had to literally claw themselves to the hardware as the Shaw refused to go away quietly.
The score was tied 11 times throughout the game, and the lead changed 10 times. Neither team ever led by more than 7 points.
Johnson, a senior transfer from Michigan State, was hot from the time the game tipped off until the final buzzer, finishing with a game-high 32 points.
Virginia Union center Lady Walker added 23 points and a game-high 20 rebounds.
Shaw didn’t have quite the one-two punch that VUU boasted in Johnson and Walker, but the Lady Bears’ Eboni Rosss had 29 points and 17 rebounds for her squad.
Long-range shots played a major role in the day’s outcome. Virginia Union ended the day 9-32 from behind the arc, 8 of which came from the hands of–you guessed it–Johnson.
This was the fifth trip to the title game in the last six years for the Lady Bears; but the Lady Panthers, behind Johnson’s dominating performance, truly earned this one.