#5 VIRGINIA STATE
DEFEATS #4 PRESBYTERIAN 65-56
VSU's Ronmia Bess leads team to victory with 24 points
MARS HILL, NC - Virginia State University (21-9) defeated Presbyterian
College (21-9) in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Atlantic Regional Tournament by nine points to advance to the semifinal round. Bess scored 24 points, 13 in the second half, and pulled down seven rebounds to lead VSU to victory. The Trojans will meet top seed and host Mars Hill College on Friday night at 8:00 p.m.The game was closely played with the teams exchanging the lead 12 times
during the contest. Presbyterian led most of the first half and took a one-point advantage (30-29) into the locker room at the intermission.In the second half, VSU took a 40-38 advantage after Tiffany Thomas (Newport News, VA) hit a layup and the Trojans never relinquished their lead. Presbyterian cut the deficit to one-point on two occasions but that was as close as the Blue Hose would get. Presbyterian's Ja'Net Vicks (Greenville, SC) made two free throws at the 3:35 mark to cut the lead to
57-56 but Bess answered for VSU with a jumper 26 seconds later to start a 8-0 run to end the contest.Following Bess for VSU was Rolynda Contee (Baltimore, MD) who score 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Becky McKee (Kerrville, TX) pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and added eight points. Toni Leopard (Ninety-Six, SC) led Presbyterian with 16 points and nine rebounds followed by Billie Haskins (Greensboro, GA) with 10 points and three assists.