RALEIGH— New Trent Gym isn’t exactly the Entertainment and Sports Arena. It seats about 18,000 fewer fans.
But the ESA might as well be home for the Livingstone College Blue Bear women’s basketball team tonight. Because it is time for the CIAATournament.
If any team in the event should be comfortable and relaxed, it’s Andrew Mitchell’s club. The Blue Bears have made it to the title game three times in recent years and are the defending champions.
The women play Monday and Tuesday, while the men take the court Wednesday and Thursday.
The championship games are Saturday.
Livingstone’s women (17-9) will be a heavy favorite when they play Shaw (6-20) in today’s 9 p.m. contest. Awin would put the Bears into Tuesday’s 9 p.m. game against Western Division winner N.C. Central (22-4).
The Bear men open the 56th annual tournament Wednesday with a 1 p.m. contest against Bowie State. After a horrendous start, Buck Joyner’s team climbed out of the West Division cellar to finish the regular season at 6-19. Bowie State is 18-8.
Livingstone’s women were touted as the CIAA’s preseason favorite, but play in a very talented division.
The Blue Bears finished just 4-6 in the West, good for fifth place in the six-team division. Their 17 wins look impressive until you realize that NCCU has won 22, Fayetteville State and Winston-Salem State 18 each and Johnson C. Smith 17.
In the Eastern Division, no team has more than 16 overall wins. In fact, Livingstone went 5-1 against the East.
So Mitchell knows if his club puts together a string of victories this week, it could win the championship March 3 and advance to the Division IInational playoffs for the second consecutive season.
He surely has the firepower. Julie Tarrance, a 6-foot-5 center, and Erica Deas, a 5-10 guard, were expected to be Mitchell’s leaders this season and they haven’t disappointed.
Deas (17.5) and Tarrance (16.2) are ranked 2-3 in the league in scoring, just behind NCCU’s Amba Kongolo. (17.6).
Tarrance leads the league in overall rebounding (11.5), defensive rebounds (7.3) and blocked shots (2.4). Deas is among the CIAAleaders in field-goal and free-throw percentage, assists, steals and 3-point accuracy.
Shonda Evans is third in 3-point accuracy and is the third Blue Bear averaging in double figures (10.5).
Team-wise, Livingstone is fourth in scoring (70 per game), second in free-throw percentage and 3-pointers and averages 11 steals per game.
So expect confidence from the Blue Bears. Especially since they know they ended NCCU’s 16-game winning streak a couple of weeks ago and will face NCCUin the second round.
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Like the women, Joyner’s men are coming off a tough loss Saturday night to Fayetteville State. But Joyner said he still thinks Livingstone can beat Bowie State in the first round.
If that happens, it will be because of better distribution on offense and better team defense. Livingstone is last in the CIAA in field-goal defense and 3-point defense and is being outscored by an average of 81-71.
The offense has looked good since Sheldon Payne, Willie Rouse and Shaun Wiseman joined the team in midseason. While stalwart Rodney Gidney has been his usual powerful self inside, averaging 19.5 points (second in the league) and eight rebounds (third), Payne has given Joyner 17.3 points per outing.
Peter Anders enters the tournament averaging 11.3 points and 5.8 rebounds. Rouse is second in steals (2.89) and is dishing out 3.4 assists.
But this is also Gidney’s last hurrah.
“Itold him the curtain’s coming down,” Joyner said of Gidney. “But we may have an outside shot (to win it all) if we play together as a team.”
There is also added incentive for Joyner to win that first round game. It would put him into a second-round matchup with brother Steve and J.C. Smith.
Smith (14-2, 22-4) is favored to take the event for the first time under Joyner. Defending champ Winston-Salem State (23-3) is also a contender.
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