NyAsia Blango has been here before. Thanks to her efforts, the Elizabeth City State women will go there again.
The graduate student scored 18 points, with most of them coming in the first half, to lead the Vikings to a 70-58 win over Claflin in the semifinals of the CIAA Tournament at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena.
Elizabeth City State (10-10, 12-7), which never trailed in the game, will defend the title it won last season against either Virginia State or Fayetteville State in Saturday’s 1 p.m. championship game.
Claflin was led by Nya Morris’ nine points.
The Vikings looked dominant early on, using a 3-pointer by Blango to run out to a 10-4 lead with 5:11 left in the first quarter. Elizabeth City State expanded the lead to 11 at 21-10 with 7:58 left in the first half by playing aggressively on the boards.
Claflin (18-11, 11-9) mounted a bit of a challenge late in the first half, using a layup by Myla Lee to cut the margin to eight at 28-20 with 3:31 left in the half. The Panthers even cut it to six, 32-26, on a lay-in by Janelle Sample with 45 seconds left, before a shot at the buzzer by Ja’Nia Thompson gave the Vikings a 34-26 halftime lead. Blango led the Vikings with 11 points at the break.
ECSU pushed the lead to 12 at 47-35 with two free throws by Rasheka Simmons with 3:37 left in the third quarter. Claflin again made a small run to cut the score to 53-44 entering the fourth quarter.
The Panthers managed to do a better job on Blango, particularly in the fourth quarter, but Claflin could only cut the lead to seven, 61-54, with 2:31 before the Vikings put the game away down the stretch.
“This is her time of year,” Vikings coach Tynesha Lewis said of Blango. “She really locks in, and she did pretty much everything.”
Lewis pointed to Elizabeth City State’s 78-51 loss at Claflin on Dec. 16 as a turning point for her team.
“We just decided to come to this game,” Lewis said. “It was definitely a 180 from that day. We were focused and determined and [they] believed in themselves and got it done.”
When asked if the Vikings want to win this title as much as the last one, Lewis didn’t hesitate.
“Someone once asked Tom Brady which ring was his favorite,” Lewis said. “His answer was ‘the next one’. I’m always looking forward to the next one.”
— Mike Frainie, for The Baltimore Sun
This story will be updated.