Day Three of the women’s 2022 CIAA Tournament was a showcase of Cinderellas as Livingstone College and Virginia State knocked off higher seeds to advance to the semifinals.
Livingstone took care of business against arch-rival Johnson C. Smith, knocking off the CIAA Southern Division Champion 50-48.
Daijah Turner led the way for the Blue Bears with 14 points and added two steals as they avenged two regular season losses to the Golden Bulls. They did it despite committing 35 turnovers and finding itself down by 11 with 9:33 left in the second quarter.
JCSU had its own troubles shooting just 26.7 percent from the field for the entire game and was out-rebounded 42-32 on the glass.
Livingstone improves its record to 7-19 and has won three in a row after winning just four of its first 23 games. It will advance to the CIAA Tournament semifinals on Friday afternoon where it will take on top-seeded Lincoln University on Friday at 2:00 P.M.
Virginia State, like Livingstone, came into the tournament near the bottom of the bracket as an 11-seed. It took down no. 3 seed and de facto home team Bowie State by a surprising 50-33 margin.
VSU was led by Natalia Leaks who scored a game-high 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Bowie State was held to just 16 percent shooting, ending its dreams of making a championship run in Baltimore.
Now VSU will face off against Elizabeth City State in an all-CIAA North matchup. That game is set for noon on Friday.