The men’s and women’s CIAA championship games are set and Fayetteville State will appear in both title games, facing Lincoln University and Elizabeth City State in men’s and women’s action.
The Fayetteville State women punched their ticket to the CIAA title game with a dominant performance over a top 25 Virginia State team. FSU won 86-61 as Aniylah Bryant showed why she was the CIAA Women’s Player of The Year. Bryant put up 31 points on 11-for-11 shooting from the field, hitting all six of her 3-point attempts in the win. She did miss two free throws, however that may have only been to show that she was human.
FSU will face an Elizabeth City State (20-10) team that comes in with four consecutive wins. The newly crowned CIAA North champions and defending CIAA champs disposed of Claflin with a 70-58 win to start off Friday’s semifinal action.
The two teams met early in the CIAA season, with FSU getting the better of Elizabeth City State with a 67-63 win on the road. Saturday’s matchup, of course, will be on a neutral court.
The Fayetteville State men punched their ticket to the CIAA title game for the third time in four seasons with a 53-51 win over Virginia Union. Both teams struggled offensively, but FSU got a 20 point, nine rebound game from Caleb Simmons.
It will square off against a Lincoln team that is one season removed from its first-ever appearance in the CIAA title game. It beat a talented Claflin team 58-52 in the CIAA quarterfinals on Friday to advance back to the championship game.
The women’s game is set to tip off at 1 PM with the men’s game to follow at 4 PM.