ELIZABETH CITY – Dhyamond Crenshaw scored her 1,000^th career point as the Chowan University women’s basketball team crushed their cross-state rival, Elizabeth City State, 68-47 here Saturday afternoon in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Northern Division action

The win upped Chowan’s overall mark to 13-3 and 5-1 in conference. ECSU falls to 6-7, and 1-3 in league play. The Chowan women also remain at ninth in the latest D2SIDA poll and are one of four CIAA schools ranked in the poll along with Virginia Union (2^nd), Virginia State (6^th), and Bowie State (10^th).

Meanwhile, Crenshaw achieved her milestone with a basket in the fourth quarter.  She paced the Hawks with 22 points and seven rebounds. Chantel Roberts and Danielle Weldon chipped in with 16 and 11 points respectively, while Mariah Coker tallied eight points and seven assists.

Elizabeth City State committed 17 turnovers in the opening half compared to seven for the Hawks and the Vikings finished with 31 turnovers.

ECSU won the battle on the boards, outrebounding the Hawks 39-32 with a 31-15 advantage on the defensive glass.  Chowan also hauled in 17 offensive boards.

Mariah Coker knocked down a trey to open the offense for the Hawks.  Following a steal by Coker, Jada Lee and Roberts pushed the lead to 7-2 early.  Elizabeth City State would capture the lead at 8-7 before a 7-0 run by the Hawks forced a timeout.

Lee then started a Chowan run off with a trey as Crenshaw and Roberts connected from the floor after strong defensive efforts by the Hawks.

ECSU would trim the deficit to 14-13 with just less than four minutes to play in the quarter before Weldon went coast-to-coast following a steal to keep the Hawks in front.  The battle continued down the stretch of the quarter as the Hawks would be held without a field goal the final 3:05 of the quarter up 16-15.

Chowan held the Lady Vikings to just seven points in the second quarter.  Crenshaw sparked an early run, chipping in with four points along with a layup by Joanne Williams.  The Lady Vikings would close the gap slightly with a pair from the charity stripe.

ECSU trimmed the deficit to one, 22-21, before a mini 6-0 run by the Hawks forced a Lady Vikings’ timeout.  Weldon started the run with a layup before Crenshaw converted from the stripe and a Coker jumper stretched the lead to 28-21 with 2:39 remaining in the half.

The run continued as Crenshaw pushed the Hawks to a double-figure lead with 1:05 left in the first half with a bucket in the paint and a pair from the stripe. Weldon added to the lead as the Hawks led 33-22 at intermission.

Roberts and Crenshaw teamed up to start the second half scoring, while Weldon added an old-fashioned three-point play to keep the Hawks ahead by double-figures.

A triple by Roberts gave the Hawks their largest lead of the contest, 43-27, with 6:34 remaining in the quarter. Elizabeth City would grab three straight buckets to trim the deficit to 10, 43-33.

Crenshaw ended the run with a three-point play out of the timeout. Roberts tacked on another triple to push the lead back to 16.  Baskets by Roberts and Williams allowed the Hawks to lead 53-36 heading to the final stanza.

The Lady Vikings would close the gap slightly with four points before Crenshaw tallied a bucket at the 6:51 mark of the quarter.  Crenshaw tacked on another bucket to keep the lead at double-figures.

The Hawks continued to push the lead as Weldon, Roberts, and Crenshaw each produced a basket. Coker knocked down a trey to push the Hawks to a 21 point advantage, 66-45.

Sydnee Neal posted the final basket for the Hawks as Chowan takes the win by 21.

Chowan will return home for a CIAA Northern Division contest against regionally ranked Virginia State Saturday, Jan. 20.  Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.