Virginia State never panicked.

When a nine-point lead disappeared in the third quarter, the top-seeded Trojans stuck with what got them there: defense, taking care of the ball and executing the little things. When Bowie State’s fiery point guard, Destiny Ryles, buried tough shot after tough shot, swinging the momentum in favor of the No. 3 seed, Virginia State women’s basketball passed around high fives and stayed true.

“You can hear us in the huddle,” coach Nadine Domond said. “‘We got this. We’re OK. We’re gonna be OK. Just keep calm and be who you are. Keep our identity.’”

That’s how the Trojans were able to close out a 63-59 win Friday afternoon. That punched their ticket to the CIAA Tournament championship game at 1 p.m. Saturday against the winner of No. 2 (North) Virginia Union vs. No. 1 (South) Fayetteville State.

One dagger wouldn’t be enough to send Bowie State packing.

Up two at the 50-second mark, Skylar White nailed her fifth 3-pointer on six tries‚ and she’d take home game Most Valuable Player honors behind 17 points. Of course, Ryles responded. So Mihjae Hayes snaked through the Bulldogs’ defense, extending her right arm for a layup that would be enough to call it.

“It was high intensity and high emotion,” White said. “I thought we handled it well.”

This game was a homecoming for Virginia State senior Anii Harris. The Baltimore native played her first three seasons of college ball at Bowie State. She finished with 16 points, second-most on her new team in the win. Harris was on the receiving end of “traitor” chants from her former school’s band.

The Trojans’ size posed a difficult matchup.

At one point early in the first quarter, Ryles grabbed the jerseys of two of her teammates, her two bigs, and pulled them in close. “You have to fight!” she told them, punching into her palm in the process. Ryles is a leader and 5-foot-3 game wrecker whose 29 points gave the Baltimore native 87 over three games this week.

But the Bulldogs were undersized in this matchup, so she knew it would come down to a battle in the interior. They needed help elsewhere. Outside of Ryles, no Bulldog scored in double figures, which made it tough to complete the comeback down the stretch.

Domond walked into the postgame interview room wearing a Michael Jackson “Thriller” T-shirt. Fitting for this one.

Virginia State men advance to title game: Virginia State dethroned the defending champs, 66-57.

This time last year, Lincoln men’s basketball stamped its first CIAA Tournament championship in program history. The No. 3 seed Lions are headed home a day early after letting slip a chance at repeating. The top-seeded Trojans will face the winner of Fayetteville State and Bluefield State at 4 p.m. Saturday in the conference championship game.

“Kind of a weird game,” Virginia State coach Lonnie Blow Jr. said. He wasn’t a fan of his group’s sluggish start but thought his team settled in well.

This was a back-and-forth affair for much of the second half.

Virginia State built an early lead largely thanks to a pair of triples from Clint Wright Jr. The Trojans maintained an eight-point advantage at the break and led by as many as 12. Then Lincoln punched back with a run of its own, taking a 33-32 lead six minutes into the second half.

It would only hold a lead for a total of one minute, 45 seconds.

The difference? Lincoln went scoreless for nearly five minutes in the game’s final six. Virginia State’s Jared White buried a 3-pointer from straightaway center, Jacob Cooper finished a backdoor layup and Jayson Harris ushered in a timeout with a short floater. An eight-point lead in the final 90 seconds against a lifeless Lions team proved enough to get to the finish line.

Have a news tip? Contact sports editor Tim Schwartz at timschwartz@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/timschwartz13.