The Lincoln University women's basketball team  struggled in their season opener Friday night against Millersville University in the CIAA/PSAC Challenge as the Marauders used a 19-9 second quarter and pulled further away in the fourth quarter to hang a 76-55 loss on the Lions at Manuel Rivero Hall.
 
Brianna Logan (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley (Siena)) led the Lions, scoring 13 points (4-8 FG, 5-7 FT) off the bench.  Logan also had four as assists on the night.  McKenzie Spencer (Richmond, Va./Henrico) added 11 points (4-8 FG, 2-3 3FG).
Amanda Okodugha (Norrköping, Sweden/Young Harris College) led all players with seven rebounds.
 
Celeste Robinson led the Marauders with 23 points.  Alayah Hall added 14 while Janelle Robinson and Courtney Hinnant added 10 apiece.  Celeste Robinson also led 'Ville with seven rebounds.  Hall had five assists.
 
The first quarter by far produced the closest scores of the contest as there were five ties and four lead changes in the first ten minutes.  Spencer's three-pointer midway through the quarter gave the Lions their first lead at 10-8.  Two minutes later, Jaeda Davis (Milwaukee, Wis./ Rufus King HS) made 1-2 from the line to boost the lead to 11-8, the largest margin either team had in the opening quarter.   Janelle Robinson's two free throws put Millersville back up by one 12-11 with just 2:32 left.  The lead changed hands two more times before the end of the period which ended in a 17-17 tie.
 
Millersville opened the second quarter with a 13-2 uprising to take a 30-19 lead with 4:27 left in the period, capped by 'threes' from Jade Farquahar and Celeste Robinson. The Lions cut the gap to six with a 7-2 spurt with Spencer scoring five of the seven before the Marauders pushed the lead back to double digits by halftime 36-26.
 
The Marauders pushed their leads up to 17 points at 49-32 midway through the third quarter before the Lions countered with a 10-4 run to close out the period and remain within striking distance at 53-42.
 
An 11-0 run by "Ville to open the fourth quarter put the game out of reach for the Lions who could only close the gap to 15 before the Marauders closed the game on a 12-6 spurt for the 76-55 win.  Logan had seven of her 13 points in the fourth quarter.
 
For the game the Marauders shot 47.5% (29-61) from the field while the Lions connected no 33.3% (17-51) of their shots.  Neither team was impressive on the free throw line with Lincoln holding a slight advantage (55.9%-51.9%).  Millersville held the advantage on the glass (43-34), committed three fewer turnovers (19-22) and had a better assist/turnover margin (12/19 to 6/22).
 
The Lions will host Gannon University in the second day of the CIAA/PSAC Challenge on Saturday, November 12, 2016.  Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.