CHARLOTTE, N.C. (February 27, 2011) — The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) has announced its pairings for this week's Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament, and both the Lincoln women and men will take on Shaw University in the opening round.
Both LU teams represent the No. 7 seeds in the North while Shaw finished second in South. All tournament games can be streamed live on www.livestream.com/ciaa. This will be Lincoln's first time competing in the fabled conference tournament after transitioning to NCAA Division II from Division III.
Touted as the third-most attended basketball tournament among all NCAA divisions, the 2010 CIAA Tournament, in its fifth year in the "Queen City", Charlotte, N.C., boasted 176,000 fans during the course of the week, while making an economic impact of over $37.7 million. Since the year 2000, the CIAA has generated over $214 million in economic impact for the state of North Carolina and over $13 million in overall scholarship dollars for CIAA member institutions.
The battle between the ladies is set for 7 p.m. on Monday at the Time-Warner Arena. The winner will take on either #6S Fayetteville State or #3N Virginia State at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
The evening affair is a rematch of teams' first meeting on Jan. 20 at Manuel Rivero Hall. The Lady Lions fell, 89-60, but the game was much more competitive than the final score let on especially in the early going as four Lincoln treys led to a 21-7 advantage in the first 9:20.
Brittney Waters spearheaded the onslaught, drilling three of her career-high four 3-pointers en route to 22 points, her second-highest total of the season.
However, that 14-point advantage quickly dissipated as Shaw tied the game at 25-25 with 5:01 to go in the opening period when Victoria Tanner knocked down one of two free throws.
LU responded with three consecutive points by Sharay DuBose off a free throw and a nifty up-and-under spread over LU's next two possessions. The junior guard also finished with 10 rebounds for the double-double. Mfon Ekanem led Lincoln on the glass with 13 boards, which had tied a career high.
However, Brittney Spencer knocked down a jumper several minutes later to give Shaw a 30-28 edge. It was the visitors' first lead since a 2-0 advantage on the first possession off the opening tip.
After that point, the game was all Shaw. The Lady Bears translated 34 LU turnovers into 45 points while just turning the ball over 13 times themselves.
The men, meanwhile tip off at 1 p.m. in the first game of the Wednesday session with the winner facing either #6S St. Augustine's or #3N Elizabeth City State.
In the team's regular-season meeting with Shaw on Jan. 20 at Manuel Rivero Hall, Shaw shot 51 percent from the floor on 28-of-55 shooting and made 7-of-15 3-pointers. Attempting to combat that was Lincoln University's standout guard, junior Denzel Mooney. After being silenced for two points in the first half, the Baltimore native erupted for 21 over the final period to give him 23 for the night and his eighth-straight contest with at least 20.
— LU —
