By TOM BONE
BLUEFIELD — The Bluefield State Lady Blues allowed West Virginia State to shoot 53 percent from the floor in the first half Friday night, and stretches of inspired defense could not get BSC back in the game, as the Yellow Jackets claimed an 80-66 win in game two of the Herb Sims Memorial Tournament.
“We just hit some shots,” said West Virginia State’s new head coach, Renee Bostic. “We always hope to hit some shots, and we hope we can continue on that path.”
The Lady Blues (0-4) forced the Jackets into 18 turnovers, but coughed up the ball 20 times, especially in the ragged second half.
Bluefield State head coach Gary Brown said, “We’re still trying to find ourselves offensively. We’re a young team. We tend to give up a lot of turnovers, and therefore we give up easy opportunities.
“We did a little better at times. ... I see some improvement, but we’ve got a long way to go.”
The visitors got out to a 9-0 lead, but Bluefield State then got hot to cut the deficit to 13-10 on a fall-away 3-pointer by BSC’s only senior, Tamika Jefferies. The Yellow Jackets (2-3) turned up the rebounding a notch and gradually stretched their lead to 40-28 at halftime.
Bluefield State opened the second half with a four-minute drought before getting a field goal. Charlene Diggs hit a three from the left corner but State was ahead 48-33 at that point.
Another span of three minutes-plus in the middle of the second half in which BSC scored a single point allowed the Jackets to build their margin to 62-44.
Late in the game, the crowd gave a cheer when public address announcer Buford Early pronounced the final score in Bluefield High School’s state championship football game, a 27-7 victory over Wayne in Wheeling.
Bluefield scored the last nine points of Friday’s Sims Tournament in the final 70 seconds of play, on a trey by Laken Coburn, a bucket in the paint from Amber Fitzgerald, two foul shots by Coburn and a drive to the hoop by Preshuse Jackson.
Three Lady Blues tied as the team’s scoring leaders with 10 points each — Jefferies, Coburn and Garcia Hanna. Diggs and Kathleen Bailey led the rebounding with five each.
Alixandria Barnette topped the point totals for West Virginia State with 19. Danielle Davis, though only 5-foot-7, led in rebounds with nine as the visitors finished with a 39-23 rebounding advantage.
Bluefield State shot 37 percent from the floor in both halves and made 64 percent of its 28 foul shots. State was 19-for-31.
Two warriors for each side were familiar with each other from their careers in southern West Virginia high schools. Summers County alumna Lauren Estes, a freshman for State, tied up the ball with Coburn, a PikeView grad, forcing a jump-ball call late in the second half.
The Lady Blues also used Bluefield grad Bailey, Princeton alumna Kelly Pawlowski, and Beckleyan Diggs.
Bluefield High School graduate Yashica Page is an assistant coach and former player for the Yellow Jackets.
In Friday’s opening game, Central State from the Columbus, Ohio, area used its experienced lineup to defeat a freshman-laden team from WVU–Tech by a 74-66 final score.
The tournament concludes today with Bluefield State taking on WVU–Tech in the consolation game at 4 p.m., followed by the championship between Central State and West Virginia State at approximately 6 p.m.
— Contact Tom Bone at
tbone@bdtonline.com
At the Ned Shott Gymnasium
WEST VIRGINIA STATE (2-3)
Tiffany Finkton 4-7 2-2 10, Danielle Davis 1-8 5-10 7, Kashauna Cook 2-4 0-0 4, Keirah Hicks 1-6 2-2 4, Sandrea Coleman 6-8 4-9 16, Cierra Jones 1-1 3-4 5, Sharena Atkinson 6-12 1-1 13, Alixandria Barnette 8-16 2-3 19, Lauren Estes 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 30-65 19-31 80
BLUEFIELD STATE (0-4)
Kelly Pawlowski 2-4 1-2 6, Laken Coburn 2-7 4-5 10, Charlene Diggs 3-9 1-2 9, Garcia Hanna 3-5 4-5 10, Tamika Jefferies 4-10 0-0 10, Angelica Kimbrough 0-0 0-0 0, Preshuese Jackson 2-10, 4-6 9, Amber Fitzgerald 2-2 1-2 5, Kathleen Bailey 2-7 3-6 7. Totals 20-54 18-28 66.
Halftime, WVS 40-28. 3-point goals – WVS 1-5 (Davis 0-3, Barnette 1-2), BSC 8-14 (Pawlowski 1-2, Coburn 2-2, Diggs 2-2, Jefferies 2-5, Jacksn 1-2, Bailey 0-1).
