WILMINGTON, Del. - Bowie State University women's basketball improved its record to 5-1 following a 60-49 road victory at Goldey-Beacom College on Thursday evening.
 
Sophomore Kyaja Williams (Baltimore, Md.) recorded a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting from the field to lead the Bulldogs. Senior Kiara Colston (Burtonsville, Md.) and graduate student Sade Chatman (Minneapolis, Ind.) added 13 and12 points respectively.
 
Bowie State (5-1) shot 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the field and made 15-of-17 free throws (88.2 percent). The Bulldogs held advantages in points in the paint (26-22), bench points (36-13) and rebounds (41-34).
 
Goldey-Beacom and Bowie State battled to a 14-all tie in the first quarter of play and featured five lead changes in opening 10 minutes.
 
Goldey-Beacom's Lightning led the majority of the second quarter only to see Bowie State roll into halftime with a 26-25 lead following a Chatman jumper with 35 seconds on the clock.
 
Britani Bryson (Hampton, Va.) scored the first field goal of the third quarter to shift the advantage over the Goldey-Beacom at 27-26 but a layup on the other by Bowie State's Chatman gave the advantage back over to Bowie State for what we be for the rest of the game.
 
Back-to-back Bryson field goals created the fifth tie at 44-all at the 8:54 mark of the third quarter.
 
BSU's Williams scored a conventional three-point play with 8:43 remaining to give the Bulldogs a 47-44 lead only to have GBC's Amanda McGrogan (Mount Laurel, N.J.) drill a triple to knot the score at 47-47.
 
The Lightning's Alanna Speaks (Wilmington, Del.) canned a free throw with 4:02 left to pull the Lightning to a 49-49 deadlock.  But the Bulldogs took over from there, shooting 3-of-6 from the floor the rest of the way and 5-for-6 from the line.
 
Williams began things for Bowie State by hitting two free throws with 3:14 to play for a 51-49 game.  Both teams in the next few possessions had great looks down low and on the perimeter, but could not find the mark.
 
The score remained the same for almost two minutes before senior Lisa Jing (Laurel, Md.) hit a layup with 1:21 to go for a 53-49 Bulldogs lead.  The Lightning's McGrogan missed a layup for GBC and a layup by redshirt junior Pere Alexander (Baltimore, Md.) with 46 seconds left gave Bowie State a 55-49 lead.
Bowie State senior Kyah Proctor (Capital Heights, Md.) knocked down a pair of free throws with 27 seconds remaining in the game and Williams closed the non-conference contest with a layup and a free throw to seal the Bulldogs victory.
 
Bryson ended the night with 16 points and 11 rebounds and junior Tanner Turner-Rush (Harrisburg, Pa.) netted 13 points for the Lightning (2-6), who shot 30 percent (16-of-54) from the field.
 
The Bulldogs welcome the University of the District of Columbia Firebirds to the A.C. Jordan Arena on Monday (12/4) evening for a non-conference clash at 5:30 p.m.