(Raleigh, NC) -  The Shaw women's basketball team used a 34-9 scoring run at the start of the second half to power past Winston-Salem State 73-53 in a CIAA divisional contest played at C. C. Spaulding Gymnasium.

Shaw (14-10, 7-6 CIAA) and Winston-Salem State (14-8, 9-4 CIAA) played a see-saw first half, but the Lady Bears stormed through the opening ten minutes of the second half to build a lead that never fell below 20 in the last eight minutes of the game.

The Lady Rams opened the game with a hot shooting hand from the three-point line, with Jasmine Newkirk hitting three three-pointers to build an 11-2 lead with 15:33 left in the half.

Demaria Liles, in her first game for the Lady Bears, hit two unanswered buckets, then Kyria Buford added two more – one a three pointer – to tie the game at 11.  Aslea Williams would then add four unanswered points of her own, allowing Shaw to take a 15-11 lead with 9:05 left in the first.

The Lady Rams battled back, building a 13-2 run for themselves and, with 4:04 left in the half, took a 24-17 lead on Chloe Morse's jumper.

The Bears then came back to life, finishing the half on an Allyssa Lane layup that capped a 10-4 run and set the halftime score at 28-27 in favor of the Lady Rams.

Shaw opened the second half hot – with Williams hitting a bucket with less than 30 second having ticked off the clock.  Over the next 12 minutes, the Lady Bears reeled off a 34-9 scoring run capped by Buford's layup off an assist from Brittney Spencer.  That bucket gave Shaw a 61-37 lead with 7:51 left in the game.

Shaw would extend the lead to as many as 27, but never let the Lady Rams back inside a 20-point margin the rest of the way. 

Buford led the Lady Bears with 17 points and pulled in 14 rebounds for a double-double.  Jackie Sanders had ten points and nine rebounds, leaving her one board short of the double-double.  Liles had 12 points and eight rebounds.  Spencer paced the Lady Bears with 13 assists.

For the Lady Rams, Newkirk led the scoring with 19 while Morse finished with 14.  Vontisha Woods was WSSU's leading rebounder with eight.

The Lady Bears travel to Charlotte Monday for a game against Johnson C. Smith.  Tip is 5:30 p.m.  Shaw returns home Saturday, February 19 for a matchup against Fayetteville State in the team's annual Pink Zone game.  Tip is 6:00 p.m. at C. C. Spaulding Gymnasium on the Shaw campus and all fans are invited to wear pink to help raise breast cancer awareness.

Photos:  Kyria Buford (left) goes up for a three in the first half against WSSU.  Demaria Liles (right) goes in for a layup in the first half.