ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. – The Lincoln University women's basketball team couldn't hold on after a furious start to the second half as the Lady Lions fell to Elizabeth City State, 60-56, on Saturday night in the CIAA Northern Division opener at the RL Vaughan Center.
 
Krystal Fluellen (New York, N.Y./Richard Green HS) paced Lincoln with 12 points and eight rebounds. Brittany Waters was 4-of-9 from the floor to finish with 10 points as the Lady Lions were 20-of-53 shooting for 38 percent.
 
The Lady Lions (4-14 overall, 0-7 CIAA) broke a 14-all tie with 9:01 remaining after a Fluellen layup, but the Lady Vikings responded with a 13-2 run to close out the first half and take a 27-18 advantage into the half.
 
Lincoln started the second half hot and used an 18-9 run to tie the contest at 36 after a Denyse Moore (Hampton, Va./Woodside HS) layup with 13:14 left and a Waters 3-pointer with 11:36 remaining gave Lincoln its first lead, 39-38, since the 10:32 mark of the first half.
 
The Lady Lions pushed the advantage to 43-38 after a pair of Tahlar McIntosh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Alvernia HS) free throws with 9:25 left, but Elizabeth City State (10-7, 4-3) refused to go away and used a 17-10 run to take a 55-53 lead after a Stephanie Harper layup with 2:52 remaining.
 
A McIntosh free throw closed the gap to 55-54 with 1:57 left, but Harper complete a three-point play to extend the lead to 58-54. After a foul by Harper, Moore sank a pair to cut the deficit to 58-56 with 20 seconds remaining. Elizabeth City State put the game away as DeAudra Brown hit two free throws with 14 seconds left.
 
Wykeemia Gray led the Lady Vikings with 14 points and nine boards, while Whitney Gray had 11 points. Harper chipped in with nine points and 12 rebounds as Elizabeth City State shot 38 percent (24-of-64) from the floor.
 
Lincoln heads to Murfreesboro, N.C., on Monday, Jan. 23 as the Lady Lions meet Chowan in a CIAA Northern Division showdown at the Helms Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.