Amanda Okodugha (Norrköping, Sweden/Young Harris College) scored a career high 19 points while Monique Cheek (Teaneck, NJ/Harford Community College) recorded her first double double of the season as the Lincoln University women's basketball team lost their second consecutive road game, 80-71 at Wilmington University at the Complex in Newark, Delaware Friday afternoon.

The Lions fall to 3-9 overall while Wilmington improves to 5-8.

Okodugha missed just one shot from the field the entire game (a contested put-back in the fourth quarter), shooting 7-8 from the field and adding five free throws for her game-high 19 points.  She also grabbed eight rebounds.  Cheek also scored 19 points (6-14 FG, 7-9 FT) and equaled her career high with 13 rebounds.    Jaeda Davis (Milwaukee, Wis./ Rufus King HS) added 10 points.  Brianna Logan (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley (Siena)) dished out a career high eight assists while scoring eight points and She'cquan Bailey (Denton, Md/Baltimore City CC) had nine points.

Macy Robinson led the Wildcats with 19 points and 13 rebounds.  Jasmine Lee added 17 points and Emma Matthews added 16.

Solid shooting from the Wildcats in the first two quarters propelled the hosts to a 48-27 lead at halftime.  Wilmington was nearly perfect from three point range in the first half, connecting on six of seven attempts, a major factor in producing their big lead.

The second half was a different story as the Lions defense improved, holding the Wildcats to just one three point field goal the entire third and fourth quarters.  LU opened the third quarter with an 8-3 run, closing the gap to 16.  Wilmington followed with three straight baskets to take their largest lead of the second half at 23 point before the Lions closed within 13 with a 12-2 flourish.  Okodugha's layup with 3:13 left started the run followed by a steal and fast break layup from Bailey.    WU's Matthews added a basket at the 1:53 mark before a short jumper from Logan, and a 3-ball and two free throws from Davis made the score 60-47 with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

A 10-5 run by the Wildcats to start the fourth quarter pushed the lead back to 20 but the Lions again began to chip away at the lead as the period wore on.  Time was not however, on Lincoln's side as they were still facing a double-digit deficit in the final two minutes of play.  Eight straight points from the Lions cut the margin to ten at 77-67 with just 41 seconds remaining.  Highlighting the 8-0 run was a traditional three-point play from Cheek.    After a single free throw from Wilmington, Cheek added two more from the charity stripe to make the score 78-69.    This was a close as the Lions would come as both teams exchanged points in the final 20 seconds.  Cheek finished the game with eight points in the final 1:18.

Wilmington finished the game shooting 48.3% (29-60) from the field including a 7-10 mark from three point range.  The Lions shot just 35.8% (24-67) and were 3-18 from three point range.   Lincoln's troubles on the foul line continued, shooting just 62.5% (20-32).  WU was 15-18 (83.3%) from the charity stripe.  The Lions did cut down on their turnovers, committing just 14 to the Wildcats 22, leading to a 24-13 advantage in the points off turnovers category. Wilmington held a slight 44-39 edge on the boards.

The Lions return to action on January 5, 2017 when they play at Fayetteville State University.  Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.