CHARLOTTE, N.C.—The Chowan University Lady Hawks made their presence known, but could not overtake the Lady Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University during their opening round of the 39th annual women’s tournament of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Basketball Tournament. Playing on Tuesday at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, the Lady Hawks – ranked No. 4 in the northern division of the CIAA – went down 49-57 to the Lady Golden Bulls, who are ranked No. 5 in the southern division of the CIAA.

In the first half of play, the Lady Hawks were able to tie the score twice, but never were able to take a lead during the game. At two points during the first half, the Lady Golden Bulls were able to expand their lead to as much as 13 points. By half time, the Lady Hawks closed their lead to 22-29.

At 15:52 in the second half, the Lady Hawks’ Kaela Nelson closed the score to 31-33 after hitting one of two free throws. From that point the Lady Golden Bulls pushed their lead to as much as 12 points with 7:09 remaining in the game. Rachel Gostomski brought the Lady Hawks to within two points (47-49) as she dropped in two free throws with 3:20 left on the clock. After this, the Lady Golden Bulls went in 8-2 points run in scoring to give them the victory.

Chowan Lady Hawks head coach Patrick Mashuda remarked during the post-game briefing that they had tried to do some things differently during the game, but added that the turnover’s hurt the team the most.

The Lady Hawks had two players in double figures. They were: Rachel Gostomski with 12 points and Courtni Williams with 11 points.