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BRISTOL, TENN. – The Chowan women’s basketball team overcame their slow start to pick up a 57-52 win on the road against King in the regular season finale here Thursday evening.

That win allowed Chowan (17-9 overall and 17-7 in Conference Carolinas action) to secure the fourth seed in the league’s Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament. The Hawks receive the bye until the quarterfinals played at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium (Wofford) on March 4 against the winner of the 5-8-9 pool.

Destiny Robinson notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds in Thursday’s win at King. Monique Jones added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Chowan’s slow start led to their lowest total in a single quarter with five in the first period. The Hawks rebounded to lead 26-21 at the half.

Trailing 9-5, the Hawks rallied behind two baskets from Robinson and one each from Jones, Keibra Hopkins. By the time Tyaysia Sharpe knocked down a pair of triples, Chowan had a 21-16 lead.

Jones then finished off the old-fashioned three-point play followed by Olivia Gaither picked up a pair from the stripe to lead 26-20 at the intermission.

King rallied with a 10-0 run to take the lead, 34-32, midway through the third quarter. Jones picked up a pair from the stripe to end a 3:30 drought. Jones added a layup to put the Hawks back on top 36-34.

Chowan led 39-38 entering the final period of play.

King evened the score at 45-all midway through the final stanza. Demetria Bland broke the tie with a layup prior to King hitting a pair at the stripe to knot the contest up again. Jahkeria Bagby notched a layup before Robinson added a layup to lead 51-47 with 2:32 remaining.

With just under a minute to play, King converted a three-point play to close the gap to 51-50. Aniah Patterson added a point from the stripe with 36.3 remaining. Chowan would force a jump ball with 33.4 remaining allowing Bland to pick up a pair at the stripe after the Tornado had to foul.

King scored a layup to cut the deficit to 54-52 before Sharpe collected a point at the stripe for a 55-52 lead. The Tornado had a chance to even the score with a three-pointer, but was unsuccessful. Bland finished off the contest at the line with a pair of free throws.

The win was the second this week by the Chowan women. On Tuesday night, Jones posted a double-double as Chowan University used a 73-68 win to complete a season sweep of Mount Olive in Conference Carolinas basketball action.

Jones scored a career-high 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting while adding 11 rebounds. Robinson added 17 points and nine rebounds; Sharpe had 11 points and Gaither collected 12 rebounds.

The Hawks posted their first winning season since the 2017-18 campaign where they were 19-9. Chowan posted the most wins in league play since the Hawks collected a 13-3 record in CIAA play in 2015-16.