Intensity and heart. These are two words that described how the Lincoln University women's basketball team played in their game Wednesday night against three-time Central Atlantic collegiate conference (CACC) tournament champion Bloomfield College. The Lions showed that intensity and heart throughout the second half as they defeated the Lady Bears 66-62 at Manuel Rivero Hall.
The Lions improve to 2-5 overall while the Lady Bears fall to 3-3.
She'quan Bailey came off the bench and did not miss, shooting 5-5 from the field , including one three pointer as well as a free throw to finish the game with a team-high 12 points. Eight of those 12 came in the fourth quarter.
Teira Pendleton (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytech) was almost as perfect, connecting on four of five shots from the field along with a pair of free throws to finish with ten points. Pendleton led the team with six rebounds while Bailey had a team high five assists.
Zhane Robinson led the Lady Bears with 31 points (12-21 FG, 2-5 3FG, 5-7 FT) while the team's leading scorer Tiana Smith was held to 13 points, nearly four below her average entering the game. Robinson also grabbed 13 rebounds while Smith had six assists.
The first two quarters saw 20 minutes of momentum swings. Bloomfield jumped out to a seven point lead 13-6 midway through the first quarter only to see the Lions roar back with an 11-2 run to close out the quarter and take a 17-15 lead. The pendulum swung back to the Lady Bears in the opening moments of the second quarter with an 8-3 spurt to put the visitors up three. A 7-0 flourish by the Lions swung the momentum the other way and gave LU a 27-23 lead. BC came back and took the lead and held a 31-29 advantage before
Diamond Mickle (Philadelphia, Pa./Paul VI (Va.) (Harford C.C.)) tied the game with a pair of free throws at 31-31 and gave the Lions the lead with a minute left with a put back .
Brianna Logan's (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley (Siena)) fast break layup with 39 second left put LU ahead 35-31 going into the halftime break.
Kholby Oliver (Bowie, Md./Tallahassee Community College) opened the third quarter with a three-point field goal, giving Lincoln their biggest lead of the game at 38-31. The Lady Bears would rally to tie the score on three occasions and each time the Lions would pick up the intensity, hold the Lady Bears for a possession or two and take the lead. The last tie was at 47-47.
Jaeda Davis (Milwaukee, Wis./ Rufus King HS) would then score the Lions final four points of the quarter to give the home team a 51-48 lead.
Davis opened the fourth quarter with another layup and LU was up by five 53-48. Now holding the lead the Lions showed their heart in the face of pressure by the Lady Bears, being patient on offense and not forcing the pace of play. Bailey scored six of her eight fourth quarter points in the final 2:32. LU's lead oscillated between three and five points throughout the first seven minutes of the final stanza before a Smith layup closed the gap to one 55-54 with 2:54 left. Bailey calmly sank a 3-ball on the Lions next possession to put LU ahead by four 58-54. A Robinson layup cut the margin in half before Bailey drove to the basket for a layup and was fouled. She converted the "and-one", pushing LU's lead to five 61-56 with just under two minutes left. Again the Lady Bears clawed within one but Bailey came through in the clutch again with a layup to make the score 63-60 with 50 seconds left. Logan added a free throw and Pendleton two more from the charity stripe with nine seconds left to give the Lions a 66-60 lead. Robinson added a layup as time was about to expire to round out the scoring.
The Lions shot over 50% for the first time in seven games this season, connecting on 52% (26-50) of their shots. Bloomfield shot 21-56 (37.5%) and was just 3-18 (16.7%) from three-point range. LU shot the same number of three-point attempts but made two more. BC nearly doubled up the Lions on the free throw line, connecting on 17 of 26 (65.4%) to LU's 9-14 (64.3%). The Lady Bears also committed five fewer turnovers (19-24) while the Lions held a 35-31 advantage on the glass.
Lincoln is now off for final exams and will return to action on December 13, 2016 when they open their Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) portion of the season with a game against Livingstone College.
