Box Score LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pa. – Tahlar McIntosh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Alvernia HS) did most of her damage in the first half and Cynthia Johnson (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) took over in the second half as the Lincoln University (PA) women's basketball team pulled away late in the second half to defeat Concordia College of New York, 72-57, on Sunday afternoon at Manuel Rivero Gymnasium.
 
McIntosh scored 13 of her career-high 18 points in the first half and had a career-high 16 rebounds. She also added two assists and one blocked shot.
 
“We have good team camaraderie,” McIntosh said. “When we take the court, we play together, hard and smart. No matter what the score is, we play with a positive attitude.”
 
Johnson paced Lincoln with 19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds. She also added a career-high six blocked shots and tied career bests in steals with six and assists with six. Zephrah Pam (Syracuse, NY/Monroe CC) came off the bench and added 11 points and eight boards as the Lady Lions (4-6) were 22-of-76 shooting for 29 percent.
 
“The defense for us was key,” Johnson said. “We always have our coach's back and we wanted to fight hard for her and get the win down the stretch.”
 
Lincoln trailed 24-20 with six minutes remaining in the opening half, but used a 13-0 run, capped by a Krystal Fluellen (New York, N.Y./Richard Green HS) free throw to give the Lady Lions a 33-24 advantage with 2:17 left. A pair of free throws from Alyssa Dawson trimmed the deficit to 33-26 as the teams headed into the break.
 
The Clippers (2-12) used a 14-4 run early in the second half to grab a 40-36 lead after a layup by Krystal Ash with 14:06 remaining, but quickly answered and tied the game at 40 after buckets by Amani Clark (Middletown, DE/Appoquinimink HS) and Johnson.
 
Concordia took a 45-44 advantage after a pair of free throws by Krystina Agard with 10:27 left as that would be the final Clippers lead of the night as Lincoln ended the game on a 28-12 run.
 
Agard led three Concordia players in double figures with 10 points and nine boards. Tara-Ann Rock and Mariah Berry also finished with 10 points each as the Clippers shot 30 percent (19-of-64).
 
The Lady Lions open CIAA action 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 3 at Manuel Rivero Gymnasium against Johnson C. Smith University. To follow the action through live stats, click here.
 
Lady Lions Notebook: Lincoln out-rebounded Concordia, 62-56…The Lady Lions also had 15 steals, 14 assists and eight blocked shots…Lincoln sank a pair of 3-pointers (Tahlar McIntosh (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Alvernia HS) and Courtney Smith (Milwaukee, WI/Nicolet HS))…The Lady Lions went to the free-throw line 50 times and made 26 shots from the charity stripe…Lincoln held the advantage in points off turnovers (25-11), second chance points (17-16) and fastbreak points (16-0)…With the win, Lincoln now leads the series with Concordia, 2-0.