BALTIMORE — It's day two of the CIAA Tournament and Bowie State is moving on.
WATCH: Bowie State women advance to CIAA semifinals with 72-51 win
The No. 1 seed in the North Division, the Bowie State Bulldogs women's basketball team, defeated the No. 4 seed in the South Division, Livingstone College, 72-51 at CFG Bank Arena to advance to the semifinals.
Riding an 8-game win streak and coming in at 18-7, the Bulldogs had to go through the Lady Blue Bears a second time to advance.
Bowie State came out strong, but their biggest lead in the first quarter was only 6. Livingstone made it tough early, even taking a 25-18 lead with 6 minutes and 13 seconds left in the second quarter.
But the Bulldogs settled down, going on a run to take a 33-18 lead into halftime. Head coach Shadae Swan says nerves played a role early on.
"I think our team just came out, we were a little nervous in the first quarter, the second quarter they picked it up and just played together as a team. The defensive intensity stepped up a lot and we hit some big shots," Swan said.
After taking the lead in the second quarter, Bowie State never trailed again, getting up to double digits late in the third and eventually running away with the win. Mayah Garner Garner was named the game's MVP, leading the team with 13 points.
"For today's game, I was really ready to play. I really want to make it, of course, so I kind of just put, I get very frustrated, so I try to just put all that behind me and it's OK to miss, just get back, try to get a stop, try to hold a defender, but I feel like overall I did fairly OK," Garner said.
The Bulldogs will not play again until Friday, when they take on the winner of Virginia Union and Fayetteville State, who face off Thursday. The semifinal is set for this Friday at CFG Bank Arena.
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