LOUISBURG, N.C. — The second-seeded Catawba Valley Community College women's basketball team overcame a slow start and seventh-seeded USC Salkehatchie on its way to an 88-50 win in the Region X/District J quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon at the Roger G. Taylor Athletic Center on the campus of Louisburg College.
The Red Hawks (24-5) advance to Friday's semifinals against third-seeded Cape Fear, who defeated sixth-seeded Wake Tech, 83-70.
CVCC and CFCC split the regular season series with both teams winning at home — the Red Hawks claiming a 73-60 win on Jan. 5 in Hickory, N.C. and the Sea Devils coming away with an 83-61 victory on Feb. 23 in Wilmington, N.C.
Danielle Rainey scored a career-high 19 points to lead Catawba Valley in its quarterfinal victory on Thursday, while teammates Zharia Brown and Aniya Taylor also reached double figures with 17 and 15 points, respectively.
CVCC took a quick 6-0 lead in the early moments of Thursday's quarterfinal match up, but USC Salkehatchie (13-15) came back to tie the comets 12-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Gathering itself and gaining a 40-33 lead by halftime, the Red Hawks would outscore the Indians 48-17 during the second half on its way to advancing to the tournament semifinals.
Loni Sales and Zymbraya Corley each scored a team-high 13 points to lead the Indians, who committed four technical fouls during Thursday's game.
Friday's semifinal match up between Catawba Valley and Cape Fear is set for 4 p.m. at the Roger G. Taylor Arena.
The winner of that contest will meet the winner of the other semifinal between top-seeded Bryant & Stratton and fifth-seeded Clinton in Saturday's championship game at 1 p.m.
2018-19 Region X/District J women's basketball tournament
First round (at higher seed)
#6 Wake Tech 70, #11 Lenoir 37
#7 USC Salkehatchie 86, #10 Fayetteville Tech 49
#9 Brunswick 69, #8 Guilford Tech 60
Quarterfinals (Thursday, March 7 at Louisburg)
#1 Bryant & Stratton 80, #9 Brunswick 45
#5 Clinton 93, #4 Louisburg 82
#2 Catawba Valley 88, #7 USC Salkehatchie 50
#3 Cape Fear 83, #6 Wake Tech 70
Semifinals (Friday, March 8 at Louisburg)
#1 Bryant & Stratton (24-5) vs. #5 Clinton (10-15), 2 p.m.
#2 Catawba Valley (24-5) vs. #3 Cape Fear (23-4), 4 p.m.
Championship game (Saturday, March 9 at Louisburg)
Bryant & Stratton/Clinton winner vs. Catawba Valley/Cape Fear winner, 1 p.m.
Winner of the Region 10 tournament receives the District J automatic bid to the National Tournament in Harrison, Ark. on March 19-23 in the Pioneer Pavilion. For more info on the National Tournament, please visit: http://njcaa.org/sports/wbkb/2018-19/div2/national_championship/index
