Box Score CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Lincoln University women's basketball improved throughout the season under first-year coach Jessica Kern, but the Lady Lions saw its season come to an end with a 79-57 loss to Winston-Salem State in the opening round of the CIAA Tournament at Time Warner Cable Arena.
 
“It is difficult when you can't stop the transition,” Kern said. “We have a ways to go, but we've laid the foundation. Winston-Salem State is a run and gun team. Against the first time, they shot 60 percent. For the second time around, we looked at stopping the ball.
 
“We went five minutes without scoring and that has been our achilles heel this season. I told our freshmen (Courtney Lucas (Washington, DC/Friendship Collegiate Academy) and Alaysia Washington (Washington, DC/Friendship Collegiate Academy)) to hold on for the ride. This year they went above and beyond. Our pregame shirts said, 'expect the unexpected.' We will come back and we will be extremely hungry.”
 
Winston-Salem State will meet Johnson C. Smith at 5 p.m., on Wednesday, Feb. 29 in the quarterfinals of the CIAA Tournament.
 
Denyse Moore (Hampton, Va./Woodside HS) paced Lincoln with 13 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Cynthia Johnson (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) and Brittney Waters (Capitol Heights, Md./Charles H. Flowers) each had nine points as the Lady Lions were 22-of-59 shooting for 37 percent.
 
Winston-Salem State (18-9) raced out to a 15-5 lead after a Jasmine Newkirk 3-pointer with 16:36 remaining in the opening half. Lincoln closed the gap to 15-8 after an Alaysia Washington (Washington, DC/Friendship Collegiate Academy) layup with 15:53 left.
 
Lincoln went nearly six minutes without a basketball and the Lady Rams took advantage by using a 19-7 run to take a 34-15 advantage after a Taylar Wells free throw with 5:17 remaining.
 
The Lady Lions cut the deficit to 34-19, but that was as close as they would get in the first half as Winston-Salem State took a 38-21 advantage into the break.
 
In the second half, Lincoln trimmed the margin to 44-31 after a Cynthia Johnson (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Polytechnic Institute) layup with 16:41 remaining and after a Brittney Waters (Capitol Heights, Md./Charles H. Flowers) three-point play, the Lady Lions cut the deficit to 42-42 with 12: 31 left.
 
The Lady Rams pushed the advantage to 62-44 with 8:20 remaining, but Lincoln had one more run left and cut the margin to 66-53 after a Moore layup with 5:05 left.
 
The would be as close as the Lady Lions would get as Winston-Salem State out-scored Lincoln, 13-4, during the final five minutes to get the win.
 
Courtney Medley, who was named the game's MVP, led all scorers with 17 points on 6-of-14 shooting. She pulled down six rebounds, dished out three assists and had two steals. Newkirk finished with 15 points and Jordhan Peterson added 10. Monique Williams led the way defensively with a game-high 13 boards as the Lady Rams, who scored 40 points in the paint, shot 44 percent (31-of-70) from the floor.
 
Lincoln concludes the year with a 7-22 record and will look to replace seniors Sharay DuBose (Salisbury, Md./Parkside HS) and Synae Williams (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter HS).