For Virginia Union women's basketball head coach Tierra Terry, it's hard not to get emotional thinking about the Freedom Classic and battling rival Virginia State.

"I was asked before this game, like, how do you approach this game as a regular game," Terry said. "I told them, I don't know how to do that. This game means too much to us."

In the first game of a two-game doubleheader Saturday, Division II rivals Virginia Union and Virginia State met with an electric crowd at the VSU Multi-Purpose Center.

For the Panthers' faithful that made the trip, it was worth it. Virginia Union upset No. 11 Virginia State 70-56.

"I just think we shot with a lot of heart today," Terry said.

The Panthers came firing out of the gate. Senior forward Ny Langley made a 3-pointer in the first minute, establishing the first Virginia Union lead of the night and one the team never relinquished.

Keeping leads is something that Langley said sometimes her team has struggled with, so seeing that come together Saturday was important.

"Keeping the lead is one of our biggest challenges," Langley said. "Being able to keep the leads, that showed a lot."

Virginia State started out cold, not putting points on the board until two minutes into the game.

Part of the scoring drought for the home team was due to the aggressive Panthers defense. Every player that got on the court for Virginia Union picked up at least one rebound, and Langley accounted for nine of the Panthers' 22 defensive rebounds and had 13 total.

Sharing the wealth across the board was big for the Panthers, who led at the half 36-21.

"We had 12 assists and four people scoring, double digits," Terry said. "You can't do that without a team."

The scoring continued in the second half for Virginia Union, with the team hitting 3-pointers left and right. There were some miscommunications from the Trojans that led to turnovers and missed baskets, and the Panthers made their chances count.

"We left it on the court," redshirt senior guard Rori Cox said. "We gave it our all."

Heading into the Freedom Classic, Virginia Union was coming off a rough patch, winning its previous game against Cheyney but losing four in a row before that.

The Panthers need to change the mindset, Cox said, and with a big win over their rival, there's a spark for the team as they try to win their division in the CIAA.

"We call it a losing mentality," Cox, who finished with 12 points, said. "We had to fight back. That's all it was, believe it or not, as simple as that."

Heading into the final 10 minutes, Virginia Union was up 54-37 and didn't look back. As the clock wound down in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, the Panthers' bench was on their feet, with smiles from ear-to-ear as they realized they pulled off the upset.

"I just think we showed that we were able to handle, like adversity," Terry said.

Taniah Johnson finished with a team-high 17 points for Virginia Union, followed by Langley with 15 and Cox with 12. For the Trojans, it's only their second loss of the season and their first since Dec. 16. Sophomore guard Mihjae Hayes led Virginia State with 19 points and junior forward Tatiana Jones had 11 rebounds.

Virginia Union improves to 12-6, 5-3 in the CIAA with the win and welcome Bowie State on Wednesday, with tip-off at 5:30 p.m. The Trojans drop to 15-2, 5-2 and host Bluefield State at the same date and time.

"We are a family," Langley said. "We try to stay together during adversity."