RALEIGH, N.C. – Hot shooting, a stingy defense, strong rebounding and senior leadership propelled the #20 Shaw University Lady Bears to an 88-58 victory over Johnson C. Smith on Senior Day in Saturday afternoon's regular season finale played at Southeast Raleigh High School.

Playing in the absence of senior leader Sequoyah Griffin, who is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, the Lady Bears improved to 22-4 on the season, 13-3 in the CIAA and 8-2 in the Southern Division. The Lady Golden Bulls fall to 8-17 overall, 5-11 in the CIAA and 3-7 in the Southern Division.

"We need to get used to playing without Sequoyah, so it was good to get a game without her right before the CIAA Tournament so we can see what other people can do," said Shaw head coach Jacques Curtis. "It was a nice win for us and it was good to get a win without our leader. We needed someone else to fill that void and I think we got that tonight."

Senior Isayra Diaz stepped up in Griffin's absence and recorded a season-high 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from three-point territory. Diaz was the sparkplug for the Lady Bears in the first half, scoring 15 of her points in the frame, including a stretch where she scored eight straight to give her squad a big lead.

"Izzy really stepped it up for us tonight," said Curtis. "Considering she didn't play very much last year, it was good to see her go out like that and play like that. She did a good job."

Junior Crystal Harris and senior Taylor Dalrymple each had double-doubles to lead the Lady Bears to the victory. Harris led all scorers with 23 points and 10 rebounds while Dalrymple finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Kearah Jeffreys contributed with 12 points for the Lady Bears. All three scored their points off the bench.

The Lady Bears shot 30-of-60 from the floor for 50 percent. Defensively, the Lady Bears limited the Lady Golden Bulls to a dismal 21-of-71 shooting for a mere 29.6 percent.

Shaw also dominated in rebounding numbers, pulling down 50 boards in the victory with 19 coming on the offensive glass. In contrast, the Lady Golden Bulls pulled down 35 rebounds. Every member of the Lady Bears roster recorded at least one rebound.

Johnson C. Smith opened up the game on a quick 5-0 run before a three-pointer by Diaz put the Lady Bears on the scoreboard at the 18:07 mark of the first half.

The Lady Golden Bulls built a 9-3 lead after buckets from Chelsea Faulhaber and Deanna Downer with 17:13 remaining.  The Lady Bears answered with a 10-0 run to pull ahead 13-9 over the next 2 and a half minutes. It was a lead that they would never relinquish.

"We struggled a little bit early on," said Curtis. "But once we got our flow going and once we tied it up at nine, we really stretched it out from that point."

The Lady Golden Bulls got within two at 13-11 after Lakendra Wilkerson sank a pair of free throws with 13:59 remaining. A layup by Harris pushed their lead back to four before Faulhaber buried another jumper to bring her squad within two with 12:52 remaining.

After that, the Lady Bears used a stingy defense and strong rebounding to hold Johnson C. Smith scoreless for the next four minutes.

Not only did they turn it up defensively, but the Lady Bears also used a scorching offensive surge to pull away from Johnson C. Smith. Leading 15-13, the Lady Bears went on a 15-0 run to build a 30-13 lead with 9:54 remaining.

The Lady Bears built the 17-point lead thanks to eight straight points from Diaz, which included a three-pointer, a layup and a three-point play where she was fouled while converting another layup.

Wilkerson broke Johnson C. Smith's scoreless streak with a layup at the 9:08 mark of the first half.

A three-pointer from Jeffreys put the Lady Bears up 33-15 with 8:37 remaining in the frame before Downer buried a pair of free throws 13 seconds later to bring JCSU within 16.

Johnson C. Smith went on a 7-1 run to make their deficit 12 at 34-22 with 7:04 left in the period. In less than two minutes, Crystal Gordon buried a jumper and Dalrymple buried a three-pointer to push Shaw's lead back to 17 at 39-22 with 5:58 remaining in the frame.

After JCSU's Brittany Dorsett converted a layup to bring the Lady Golden Bulls back to within 15, the Lady Bears answered with another quick four points to go back up by 19. During the run, Dalrymple and Diaz each converted layups to give Shaw the 43-24 edge with 4:03 left.

The score remained the same for the next minute and a half before Dorsett buried a three-pointer to bring JCSU within 16 at 43-27. With 1:58 left, Dalrymple sank two free throws to extend Shaw's lead back to 18.

With 34 seconds left in the period, JCSU's Kaylah Gholson converted a layup to make the score 45-29 in favor of the Lady Bears. Fifteen seconds later, Diaz converted a layup of her own putting Shaw back up by 18 once again.

With eight seconds left in the first period, Dorsett hit a layup to bring the Lady Golden Bulls within 16. At halftime, the Lady Bears held a 47-31 lead.  

The Lady Bears continued their dominance in the second half, opening the first four minutes of the frame on a 10-2 run. With 16:52 remaining in the game, Diaz buried a three-pointer to push the Lady Bears to a 22-point lead, 55-33.

Twenty-three seconds later, Diaz pulled down the rebound after Dorsett's missed shot. She pushed the ball over to Diamond Mitchell, who found Adana David for the easy layup which put Shaw up 57-33.

Shaw extended its run to 13-2 when Dalrymple hit a layup and Harris sank a free throw to give Shaw a 60-33 lead with 14:35 remaining in the game.

Johnson C. Smith broke the scoreless skid thanks to a jumper from Gholson six seconds later. With 13:04 remaining in the game, JCSU's Brinee Dancer buried a jumper to bring the Lady Golden Bulls within 23 at 60-37.

The Lady Bears answered with a 19-10 run over the next six minutes to build a 79-47 lead with 7:10 remaining in the contest. The Lady Bears built their 32-point lead thanks to a layup from Harris, who tipped in her own miss.

At the 4:41 mark, Jeffreys sank two free throws to give the Lady Bears an 82-47 lead. The 35-point margin was the largest lead of the afternoon for the Lady Bears.

After two free throws from Faulhaber, Jeffreys hit two more free throws to push Shaw's lead back to 35 with 3:18 remaining.

The Lady Golden Bulls closed out the game on an 11-6 run but it wasn't enough as Shaw took the 30-point victory.

The game was broadcasted nationally on CBS Sports Net, which is why the contest was played at Southeast Raleigh High School. Prior to the game, four of Shaw's seniors, including Griffin, were honored with family and friends before taking the court for the final time in Raleigh.

"It was good for our seniors to go out like that," said Curtis. "We've had a good year. 22-4 is a good year. To make it a better year, we have to go out and try to win the CIAA Tournament. That's what is on the mind of our seniors right now."

The CIAA Tournament begins on Tuesday afternoon at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte. With the win, the Lady Bears earned the No. 2 seed and will have a bye in the first round of the tournament.