CHARLOTTE, NC—A second straight upset victory wasn't in the cards for the Lincoln women's basketball team. Shaw University, the number two seed from the CIAA Southern Division, blew the game open in the second half, and closed out a 71-56 victory to earn a slot in the CIAA semi-finals.

"They started more aggressively defending against Zephra (Pam) in the second half," said Lincoln coach Jessica Kern. "They pushed us to the outside, and our guards just didn't get it done in the second half."

The day started out just fine for Lincoln. The Lions notched the first two buckets of the game, then matched the Bears score for score over the remainder of a first half that featured nine ties and four lead changes.

"We knew from the first time we played them that they matched up fairly well for us," said Bears' coach Jacque Curtis. "They did a nice job taking us out of our game in the first half."

The Lions broke up the Bears' transition game in the early going, with eight steals and forcing 13 turnovers over the first twenty minutes. Lincoln also won the battle of the boards in the first half, pulling down 24 rebounds to Shaw's 21.

"I think we were a little tentative to start the game today," said Curtis. "This was our first game of the tournament, and I think it took a little to shake off the nerves."

There was no sign of nerves once the second half got going, though, as Shaw opened the period with a 17-2 run, capitalizing on cold shooting from Lincoln, and a 10-1 advantage in trips to the foul line.

"You send a team to the charity stripe 20 times in a half, it's going to be tough to win games," said Kern.

Scoring for Shaw came from all over, as the Bears saw four players reach double digits, lead by Diamond Mitcher and Kamiya Burwell, who each had 15 points on the day.

"We had five girls averaging double digits most of the year," said Curtis. "that's just the team we are. We shoot to be a great team, not great players."

Pam once again was the Lions' top offensive threat, hitting 5 of 10 from the field and 6 of 8 from the line for a game-high 16 points. Also reaching double digits for Lincoln was true-freshman De'Jah Taylor. Taylor, who at Monday's Awards Luncheon was honored with selection to the all-rookie team, knocked down 4 of 8 for ten points.

"We've been fortunate enough to have had a few straight years with someone selected as all-rookie," said Kern. "We're young, and we've got room to grow. But I'm pleased with the kind of progress we've made in these three years."

This was the second consecutive year the Lions won a first round game only to see the road end the next day.

"We let this one get away from us," said Kern. "But honestly, we've got to finish the regular season stronger so we're not playing early in the week. We struggled the last few weeks of the season, and probably cost ourselves a bye. But we are a young team, and we'll continue to grow."