Box Score Charlotte, NC (February 22, 2017) – Nationally-ranked Virginia Union appeared on the verge of being the next high seed to be eliminated from the CIAA Tournament.
But the defending champion Lady Panthers came alive late and pulled away from Winston-Salem State 68-54 in a CIAA Tournament women's quarterfinal matchup that was much closer than the score indicated.

The Rams led much of the game and the score was tied 46-46 early in the fourth quarter before the Lady Panthers went on a game-deciding 22-8 run. Alexis Johnson and Jamika Ruffin each scored seven points during the spurt for the No. 2 Northern Division seed Lady Panthers, who play the Bowie State-Johnson C. Smith winner in Friday's semifinal game at 3 p.m.

Johnson finished with 18 points, 13 rebounds and three steals for the Lady Panthers (23-3 overall), ranked 12th in the latest USA Today Coaches Top 25 Poll. Brittany Jackson added 14 points and Ashley Smith contributed nine points. Lady Walker, the CIAA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, had an off night offensively, scoring six points, but grabbed 10 rebounds as her teammates increased their scoring production.

Walker's 10 rebounds enabled her to become the all-time leading rebounder in Lady Panther history.  Walker now has 1,126 rebounds, surpassing the old mark held by Sylvia Walker, who had 1,125 rebounds in her four-year career from 1981-85.

Head Coach AnnMarie Gilbert credited her bench for beating the determined Rams (14-14 overall), who built a nine-point lead in the first half and led by five on three different occasions in the third period.

"It took us a while to get going," Gilbert said. "[The Rams] really came at us. We just had to weather the storm. We have a lot of depth and were able to find the right combination on the floor."

The Lady Panthers took their first lead (46-44) since early in the first quarter on Johnson's jumper. After Trei Torain of the Lady Rams tied the score to open the fourth period, Ashley Smith drilled a three-pointer to put the Lady Panthers ahead for good 49-46. Her trey started a Lady Panthers run which finished off the Rams.

Kandace Tate scored 12 points to lead three players in double figures for the Rams, the No. 3 Southern Division seed. Tiana Edwards scored 11 points and Taelor Mandeville registered 10 points while Jasmine Carter pulled down 11 rebounds.

High seeds Chowan and Livingstone were already eliminated before the contest started, and the Rams appeared poised to make the Lady Panthers the third upset victim. The Rams led the entire second period and nearly all of the third period before the Lady Panthers staged their comeback.

"We stopped being aggressive," Mandeville said. "In the first half we shot layups. In the second half we took jumpers."

Any thoughts of an upset evaporated in the fourth period as the Lady Panthers looked more like the dominant team that stayed near the top of the national polls during the regular season. And they needed to be against a game opponent in the Rams.

Virginia Union will now play Johnson C. Smith University in the CIAA semi-finals at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, February 24, in the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.