As we reach the midway point of the 2022-23 basketball season and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association standings begin to take root, let us check in on each school and where they stand.
Women’s Basketball
NORTHERN DIVISION
Lincoln (PA): 10-5 overall, 5-1 CIAA
The defending conference champions have picked up right where they left off last season. Led by the scoring tandem of Kania Pollock and Anyssa Fields (who combine for 32.4 points per game), the Lions are second in the CIAA with 70.4 points per game and they have won four straight games in conference play after losing the opener against Winston-Salem State. This week, Lincoln (PA) welcomes a pair of tough teams in Claflin and Bowie State.
Bowie State: 8-7 overall, 4-2 CIAA
The Bulldogs are coming off a pair of home wins, defeating St. Augustine’s, 64-54, and Claflin, 63-53, last week. Bowie State’s only blemish in the early conference schedule is a road loss to Winston-Salem State. Leading scorer Anii Harris (14.6 points per game) and the Bulldogs have a difficult mid-season task when they welcome Fayetteville State on Monday before taking on the Lions Saturday.
Elizabeth City State: 10-4 overall, 4-2 CIAA
The Vikings’ first conference road trip resulted in a win against St. Augustine’s but losses to Claflin and Fayetteville State. Allowing a conference-best 54.4 points per game, Sireann Pitts and Elizabeth City State picked up home wins against Livingstone and Johnson C. Smith and the Vikings will hope their good fortune continues inside the R.L. Vaughan Center when they welcome Winston-Salem State on Monday. Elizabeth City State closes out the week with a Saturday game against host Shaw.
Virginia State: 7-8 overall, 3-3 CIAA
Despite boasting the second-best scoring defense in the conference by allowing just 57 points per game, the Trojans are 3-2 in CIAA play, thanks to losses to Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State. In the five conference games, Sommer Blakemore has upped her level of play to 20.8 points, 3.6 assists, and 3.6 steals per game. With the added help from Kalyn Ervin, who is averaging 2.6 steals per game, Virginia State will look to keep ground with the Lions and Bulldogs by defeating Johnson C. Smith and Virginia Union when the Trojans host the two schools this week.
Virginia Union: 8-6 overall, 2-2 CIAA
Virginia Union has had an interesting start to its conference slate with wins on the road over Winston-Salem State and Livingstone but close, home losses to Fayetteville State and Claflin. Virginia Union used a magnificent performance from Ny Langley (34 points, 16 rebounds) to topple the Rams, 68-60. Despite another great performance from Ny Langley (25 points, 13 rebounds), Virginia Union lost to the Broncos on a go-ahead basket with seven seconds remaining. Langley is an early favorite for conference player of the year as she averages a conference-high 11.5 rebounds per game and her 17.8 points per game is second in the league. Those numbers rise to 21.5 points and 13.8 rebounds in conference competition. However, the Panthers cannot rest solely on Langley as they have contests against St. Augustine’s and Virginia State this week.
Shaw: 8-8 overall, 1-3 CIAA
The Bears’ 70-69 overtime win over Johnson C. Smith on Wednesday gave Head Coach Jacques Curtis his 400th career victory at the helm of Shaw. That win over the Golden Bulls is the Bears’ lone conference victory after dropping games to Claflin, Fayetteville State, and Winston-Salem State. Shaw has interesting home/road splits as the Bears are 8-2 at home and 0-4 on the road. Fortunately for the Bears, their next three games are at home, including matchups against Livingstone and Elizabeth City State this week.
SOUTHERN DIVISION
Fayetteville State: 9-5 overall, 5-1 CIAA
After cruising to three straight home wins to open conference play, the Broncos lost on the road to Lincoln (PA) and then used a go-ahead score with seven seconds left to defeat host Virginia Union. Fayetteville State has another stout road test with Monday’s game against Bowie State before a home matchup against Johnson C. Smith on Saturday. Morgan Graham has been causing havoc inside the paint as she has a total of 29 blocks in 13 games, including 15 in the five conference matchups. Both numbers lead the CIAA by a large margin.
Winston-Salem State: 8-6 overall, 4-2 CIAA
In their five conference games, the Rams have outscored their peers by an average of eight points, tops in the league. Winston-Salem State has double-digit victories over Lincoln (PA), Virginia State, and Shaw, plus a six-point win against Bowie State. Their only loss was to Virginia Union. Amaya Tucker leads the Rams in scoring with 17 points per game, which is third in the CIAA. Following road victories over the Trojans and Bears, Winston-Salem State goes on the road against Elizabeth City State on Monday and then returns home to host St. Augustine’s on Saturday.
Claflin: 9-5 overall, 3-3 CIAA
Claflin has been the early surprise this season in the CIAA after already eclipsing their eight overall wins last year. The Panthers have wins over Shaw, Elizabeth City State, and Virginia Union, already halfway to last year’s mark of six conference wins. Claflin went on the road and defeated Virginia Union, 57-52, before dropping the Bowie State away matchup, 63-53. The Panthers, led by the duo of Lauren Scott (13.5 points per game) and Nya Morris (12.9) continue their road stretch with games against Lincoln (PA) and Livingstone this week.
St. Augustine’s: 4-8 overall, 0-4 CIAA
Taniyah Greene dropped 29 points in the game against Lincoln (PA) on Saturday, but the Falcons are still searching for its first win in conference play since that furious comeback fell short. Greene has been the overall bright spot for St. Augustine’s with 16.5 points per game (fourth in the CIAA). With Greene and Lauren Banks (11.8 ppg), a conference win is coming, maybe in the next road trip versus Virginia Union and Winston-Salem State this week.
Johnson C. Smith: 4-10 overall, 0-5 CIAA
The Golden Bulls boast the leading scorer (Shaniya Jones; 20.8 ppg) and leading rebounder (India Howard; 12.3 rebounds per game) in the CIAA but it has not equaled a win in conference action just yet. Against Shaw on Wednesday, Johnson C. Smith took the Bears into overtime before falling 70-69. In fact, it was a three-pointer from Jones as time expired in the fourth quarter that forced an extra period. The Golden Bulls continue their road trip with dates against Virginia State and Fayetteville State this week.
Livingstone: 4-10 overall, 0-5 CIAA
With the exception of the loss to Elizabeth City State, the Blue Bears have been competitive in their conference games, including a four-point overtime loss to Virginia Union and a 60-56 loss to Virginia State in regulation. Thalia Carter’s play has been trending upwards, she has scored at least 12 points in four of the five league contests. On the docket this week is a road game Wednesday against Shaw and a Saturday home date versus Claflin.
Men’s Basketball
NORTHERN DIVISION
Virginia State: 12-4 overall, 5-0 CIAA
Virginia State is out to prove that last season was just that– last season. The Trojans have already surpassed last season’s mark of nine overall wins and today, the Trojans are the CIAA’s only unbeaten team in conference play after downing the quartet of St. Augustine’s, Fayetteville State, Claflin, and Winston-Salem State. Buoyed by the league’s best scoring defense, which is allowing only 58.3 points per game in conference matchups, Virginia State has outscored their CIAA foes by a margin of 10.5 points in the four games. The duo of Terrence Hunter-Whitfield (18.5 points per game overall, 20.8 points in conference-only) and Francis Fitzgerald (10.3 rebounds in conference-only games) has the Trojans dreaming of rings and net-cutting and Saturday’s game against visiting Virginia Union represents the perfect litmus test to those aspirations.
Virginia Union: 12-4 overall, 2-2 CIAA
The Panthers opened conference play by needing overtime to defeat Winston-Salem State, before being upended in overtime by Livingstone. On Thursday, the Panthers had a 28-game home winning streak snapped by Claflin. However, behind the CIAA’s leading scorer (Robert Osborne; 19.1 points per game) and rebounder (Raemaad Wright, 9.9 rebounds per game), Virginia Union has a chance to start a new streak, which begun with a home win over Fayetteville State on Saturday. The new streak can move to two with a Wednesday win over St. Augustine’s this week before the Panthers go on the road and battle Virginia State for division supremacy.
Shaw: 9-7 overall, 2-2 CIAA
After close losses on the road to Claflin and Fayetteville State in December, the Bears have followed up with a pair of wins at home versus Johnson C. Smith and Winston-Salem State. The game against the Rams went the full distance with D.J. Thomas giving Shaw the go-ahead score with five seconds remaining. Thomas is the Bears’ leading scorer and he is fifth in the CIAA with 14.5 points per game. Shaw’s home stretch continues with games against Livingstone and Elizabeth City State this week as the Bears look to keep pace with the two schools from Virginia in the division.
Lincoln (PA): 8-9 overall, 3-3 CIAA
Lincoln (PA) opened its conference slate with defeats to host Winston-Salem State and Livingstone but now have a pair of impressive league wins over Johnson C. Smith and St. Augustine’s sandwiched between a last-second road loss to Fayetteville State. Korey Williams and the Lions are gaining steam ahead of home matchups against Claflin and Bowie State this week. Williams is third in the conference with 16.5 points per game and he already has a 28-point performance, which came against the Golden Bulls.
Bowie State: 4-14 overall, 2-4 CIAA
The Bulldogs have suffered three straight conference losses to Winston-Salem State, St. Augustine’s, and Claflin after opening the season with wins on the road to Livingstone and Johnson C. Smith. Bowie State is led by the duo of Quinton Drayton and Mark Bradshaw (each averaging 12.8 points per game) and the Bulldogs figure to rely on them ahead of games against Fayetteville State and at Lincoln (PA) this week.
Elizabeth City State: 6-10 overall, 1-5 CIAA
It’s been a rough start for the Vikings as they opened the conference slate by dropping four consecutive games– all by only single digits. However, Elizabeth City State found the recipe against Johnson C. Smith, resulting in a 69-61 win. The Vikings’ leading scorer Tre Richardson finished with 22 points in that game and defensive stalwart Amadou Faye (conference-leading 39 blocks in 13 games) added a double-double with two blocks. That is a winning recipe and Elizabeth City State will hope to replicate that this week against Winston-Salem State and Shaw.
SOUTHERN DIVISION
Claflin: 12-2 overall, 4-2 CIAA
After a 7-20 season last year, Claflin was predicted to finish 11th in the conference this year. All the Panthers have done is completely obliterate those expectations and earn their first national ranking in the NABC Poll since 2018. Claflin has found ways to win in close games, defeating Shaw, 82-80, and Bowie State, 77-75. Claflin is averaging 79.9 points per game, second in the league behind Bryson Dennis’ 12.8 points per game and Jailen Williams’ 11.7. The Panthers’ only blemish is a six-point loss to Virginia State. Claflin will look to continue the magic on the road against Lincoln (PA) and Livingstone, both formidable tests for this Panthers squad.
Livingstone: 7-6 overall, 3-1 CIAA
It is a fireworks show when the Blue Bears take the court as Livingstone is averaging a conference-high 86.5 points in their four league contests. That is nearly 12 points more than second place Claflin. For the Blue Bears, all that scoring has equaled wins over Lincoln (PA), Virginia Union, and Elizabeth City State with an 75-73 loss to Bowie State being the only defeat. Livingstone also has the two highest-scoring efforts in conference play, 101 points against the Panthers and 92 against the Vikings. In the 101-92 overtime over Virginia Union, Arion Broadnax (25 points) and DeMarr McCrae (23) combined for 48 points. The one cause of concern for the Blue Bears is that they are surrendering a conference-high 80 points per game in league matchups. However, the name of the game is to score more than their opponents and the Blue Bears will look to continue to do that this week against Shaw and Claflin.
Fayetteville State: 9-9 overall, 4-2 CIAA
The defending conference champions have had a relatively uneven start to conference play with very close wins over Shaw, Elizabeth City State, and Lincoln (PA) paired against double-digit losses to Virginia State and Virginia Union. The Broncos have been led by the scoring combination of Cress Worthy and Tyler Foster. Worthy is averaging 14.4 points per game and Foster, 13.8. Fayetteville State will continue to count on the duo as the Broncos visit Bowie State on Monday and host Johnson C. Smith Friday.
St. Augustine’s: 5-8 overall, 2-2 CIAA
In the home stand to open the conference schedule, the Falcons dropped a game to Virginia State and defeated Elizabeth City State. On the road, St. Augustine’s dropped Bowie State before a tough loss to Lincoln (PA). The road trip will continue with a pair of daunting matchups against Virginia Union and Winston-Salem State. Through the four league contests, Nemo Johnson leads the CIAA with 10.5 rebounds per game and so far, the Falcons have been carried by a stout defense that is allowing just 63.8 points per game in conference play, third in the league.
Winston-Salem State: 11-4 overall, 3-3 CIAA
Entering conference play with an overall record of 8-1, the Rams have dropped three of their last four– all to conference foes. That stretch features an overtime loss to Virginia Union, a 65-63 defeat at Shaw, and a double-digit loss to Virginia State on the road. Behind the play of Jaylon Gibson (14 points per game) and Jaylen Alston (13.6 ppg), Winston-Salem State does have wins over Lincoln (PA) and Bowie State, both of which came at home. Having dropped two consecutive games away from C.E. Gaines Center, the Rams have a chance to exorcise their away demons with Monday’s game at Elizabeth City State before hosting St. Augustine’s Saturday.
Johnson C. Smith: 4-10 overall, 0-5 CIAA
Johnson C. Smith is still looking for its first win in conference play after opening the season with four losses. However, the Golden Bulls very nearly started their league slate off 1-0. Hosting Bowie State, Johnson C. Smith was leading by as many as 13 points in the second half before the Bulldogs earned their first lead of the half and stole the win with 10 seconds remaining. Ezekiel Cannedy is a freshman for Johnson C. Smith averaging 15.6 points per game, and a great candidate for conference rookie of the year honors. Cannedy gets a chance to build on his campaign when the Golden Bulls visit Virginia State on Tuesday and Fayetteville State on Friday.
Courtesy: CIAA
