PETERSBURG, Virginia - After dominating both the opening night skills competitions and the opening round contest against Maine-Fort Kent, the Salem women's basketball team was clearly looking to continue their impressive start to the USCAA Division I National Championship Tournament in their semifinal matchup. The opponent here was the Bryant and Stratton-Buffalo Bobcats, and Salem took care of business every step of the way to their 84-49 victory. 

The contest opened as the late night finale of the tournament slate in Richmond. With a scheduled start of 10 PM and an actual tipoff of approximately 10:30, head coach Nikayla Edgell's challenge of the night was to keep her team energized through challenges of a late start. That clearly went well with Salem jumping out to a double digit lead quickly, and the Tigers ending the period with a 20-8 advantage. 

In the second, Salem kicked things into high gear and left the Bobcats in the dust. Salem leaned on their season stalwarts Elena Pericic and Emerson Wells to overpower the Bobcats on both sides of the ball. Pericic and Liliani Krause controlled the paint for the Tigers, and the combination of Wells and Carine Pinkney scored at will from the outside. With the game plan firing on all cylinders, Salem went into the half with a 35-20 advantage. 

For the third, it was more of the same for the Tigers. The Bobcats simply had no answers for Salem offensively or defensively, and the Tigers grew their lead to 30 points and a  58-28 scoreline heading into the 4th. 

In the final frame, Salem wrapped up their most dominant performance of the season. Cassandra Smith and Barbara Trehub nailed some key shots for the Tigers down the stretch to seal the 84-49 victory. 

Unsurprisingly, Salem had some notable stats to consider from this victory. The Tigers were led by the double-double from Elena Pericic, who dropped in 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Carine Pinkney added 14 points, and Emerson Wells scored 13 points. Anna Machytkova was the final Tiger who scored in double figures with 11 points. Liliani Krause added a team high of 13 rebounds as well. 

With this win, Salem advances to take on Lyon College in the tournament final. That contest will be played on March 13th at 2:45 PM on the campus of Virginia State.