Box Score LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – Behind a furious second-half run, the Lincoln University women's basketball team won for the second consecutive time with a 64-57 victory over Georgian Court University on Saturday afternoon at Manuel Rivero Gymnasium.
 
“We had a horrible first half where nothing seemed to want to fall,” Lincoln head coach Jessica Kern, who picked up career-coaching victory No. 10, said. “We went away from what has worked, which is running for layups. In the second half, we got back to that.”
 
Lisa Saunders (Hampton, VA/Hampton HS) came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points, including 5-of-7 from the free-throw line. Both Cynthia Johnson (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) and Brittney Waters (Capitol Heights, Md./Charles H. Flowers) poured in 11 points and Tahlar McIntosh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Alvernia HS) added 10 points. Mfon Ekanem (Springdale, Md./C.H. Flowers HS) had eight points, a team-high nine rebounds and three steals as Lincoln (3-5) was 17-of-54 shooting for 32 percent.
 
“You can't replace a player like Denyse Moore (Hampton, Va./Woodside HS),” Kern said. “However, I didn't need everyone to come out and try to replace her. I just needed a couple of players to step up, and Lisa was one of those players today.”
 
Both teams started sluggish as Georgian Court (2-8) held an 8-5 lead after a free throw by Tahira Matthews with 9:27 left in the opening half. Lincoln raced back and took a 16-14 advantage after a Saunders 3-pointer with 6:56 remaining.
 
Neither team grabbed a lead larger than one point in the final six minutes of the first half as the two teams went into the break tied at 19.
 
Georgian Court opened the second half on a 6-1 run to grab a 25-20 advantage after a Brittany Baker jumper with 18:39 remaining, but Lincoln closed the gap to 31-30 after a free throw by Waters with 13:26 left.
 
A bucket by Elizabeth Lawler with 12:53 left gave Georgian Court a 33-30 lead – its final lead of the day, as Lincoln used a 14-0 run, capped by a Waters layup to grab a 44-33 advantage with 9:08 remaining.
 
Georgian Court cut the deficit to 62-57 with three seconds left, but that was as close as they would get.
 
Shauneia McPhearson paced Georgian Court with 23 points, including 10 from the foul line. Baker chipped in with 10 points and Christina White had a game-high 10 boards as GCU finished the afternoon shooting 29 percent (18-of-62) from the floor.
 
Lincoln concludes play before the Christmas Break 6 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 19 with a home game at Manuel Rivero Gymnasium against Central State University. To follow the action through live stats, click here.
 
Lincoln Notebook: Lincoln has won two straight (over Cheyney and Georgian Court)…Lincoln had 40 rebounds, 14 steals, 10 assists and five blocked shots…Lisa Saunders (Hampton, VA/Hampton HS) had two of the team's four 3-pointers…Lincoln was 26-of-48 from the free-throw line…Denyse Moore (Hampton, Va./Woodside HS) sat out Saturday's game after suffering an injury at Cheyney…Lincoln has two games remaining in 2012 – Dec. 19 (vs. Central State) and Dec. 30 (vs. Concordia).