CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Cinderella has crashed the CIAA Tournament.

The Chowan University women’s basketball team, which entered the tournament seeded fifth, stunned Northern Division champion Virginia Union 52-38 on Wednesday at Time Warner Cable Arena to advance to the tournament’s semifinals in Charlotte, N.C.

The Hawks will play at 3 p.m. today, March 2, against Johnson C. Smith University from Charlotte.

Chowan’s closed the close game with a methodical 17-3 run during the game’s final 8:54, turning a tie game at 35 into a shocking upset.

Chowan used tenacious defense and rebounding to formulate the recipe for the stunner. The Hawks finished the game shooting just 28 percent from the field, but held a 54-44 edge on the glass and scored 18 points off 20 Lady Panthers’ turnovers.