LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. — Friday marked the last game of the season for the Lincoln University women's basketball team who won 61-56 against Saint Paul College in Manuel Rivero Hall. The last time the Lady Lions won two games in a row was in December of 2007 when they played Briarcliffe College on the 11th and Virginia Union on the 13th.
This senior night was a big night for Chanelle Harris (Philadelphia, PA/Penn Wood) (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Wood), the only senior on the women's team, who scored 13 total points. With a number of quick steals and fast breaks, Harris made sure to leave her mark and showed everyone exactly why she is a team leader. She finishes her career with 404 assists, distancing herself from the pack as the all-time leader.
The Lady Lions took a 15-point lead against the Lady Tigers thanks to Mfon Ekanem (Springdale, Md./C.H Flowers HS), Patrice Ferguson (Mitchellville, MD/Charles H. Flowers) (Mitchellville, Md./Charles H. Flowers) who had 10 rebounds each, and DeJuana Mosley (Chester, PA/Chester) (Chester, Pa./Chester). (Springdale, Md./Charles H. Flowers) with 12 points.
The first half was a tit-for-tat battle between Lincoln University's Lady Lions and Saint Paul's Lady Tigers which ended with Lincoln in the lead by six points with each team taking the lead every other minute until LU earned separation.
Danielle Smallwood (Philadelphia, PA/West Catholic) (Philadelphia, Pa./West Catholic) made Lincoln's first basket when she made both free throws tying the game 2-2. This would be the start to the seesaw battle that lasted up until Ferguson made the first four point lead after making a free throw with 1:52 left in the first half. Sasha Evans (Hampton, VA/Phoebus) followed up by making a fast breaklay-in after Tequila Jimenez (South Jersey, N.J./Cumberland Regional HS) (South Jersey, N.J./Cumberland Regional) blocked a Saint Paul shot bringing the score to 31-25 at halftime.
Lincoln was able to keep this lead coming back from halftime in full swing. But the real star for the second half was Harris who made three different crowd-pleasing lay-ups in a row, the first two resulting from pick pocketing the SPC guards, while Brittney Waters (Capitol Heights, Md./Charles H. Flowers) (Capitol Heights, Md./Charles H. Flowers) had the third.
LU went up as much as 15 after Ivana Whitfield (Windsor, CT/Metropolitican LC) (Windsor, Conn./Metropolitan LC) hit a jumper on an assist from Harris at 47-32 with 11 minutes remaining. The Lady Tigers would rally to get within four on two occasions, the last being on a layup from Shalyn Davis inside of 40 seconds left, but critical free throws by Mosley and Ekanem cemented LU's five-win season.
