The Lincoln University women's basketball team recorded another come-from-behind win Friday night as they rallied from a 15-point third quarter deficit to defeat regionally ranked Kutztown University on their home court 86-71 at Keystone arena in Kutztown, Pa.

The game was the regular season opener for both teams.  Kutztown was ranked #9 in the pre-season D2SIDA Atlantic Region Poll.

The win marks the second time this week that the Lions have overcome a double digit deficit after rallying from ten down at the start of the fourth quarter to defeat Division I Morgan State in Tuesday's exhibition game.

Friday's win was more dramatic as the Golden Bears opened up a 15-point lead two minutes into the third quarter and still led by ten with three minutes left to go in the period before the Lions began their rally. 

DeAshia Young (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Public Safety Academy (Labette CC)) made a big impact in her first regular season game as a Lion, scoring 31 points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out a team high four assists.  Shakira Edwards (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) added 11 points while Jada Queen (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) chipped in ten and grabbed eight boards.

Kutztown led by nine at the half, 40-31 as the Lions struggled to make shots, connected on just eight of 28 shots from the field with KU making 12 of 29.  The golden Bears increased their lead to 15, 51-36 just two minutes into the period before the Lions slowly started chipping away.

KU still led 60-50 with three minutes left in the third quarter when the Lions started connecting, making five of six shots from the field to close out the quarter on a 10-3 spurt capped by Kenzie Spencer's (Richmond, Va./Henrico) layup at the buzzer to trail by just three 63-60 heading into the fourth quarter

DeeDee Irwin (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area) opened the fourth quarter with two consecutive three pointers to give the Lions the lead 66-63, their first lead since the 2:06 mark of the first quarter when they led 16-15.  Kutztown ran off four straight points to retake the lead at 67-66 before the Lions exploded with a 16-2 uprising to take a double digit lead of their own 82-69 with 3:49 left in the game.  Young had two three-pointers during the run and Dominique Allen (Upper Marlboro, Md./Takoma Academy) added a pair of field goals to help key the run.  The Lions made four of six free throws in the final 1:37 to seal the win.

Rylee Derr finished with 19 points pacing the Golden Bears.  Kaylan Jackson and Alexis Smith added 13 and 12 respectively.  Derr also led KU with five assists.

Lincoln turned in a dominant fourth quarter effort, outscoring the Golden Bears 26-8 and outrebounding KU 18-9 in the period.   For the game the lions dominated on the board 51-27 including a 22-10 advantage on the offensive end.   This advantage led to a 27-11 advantage in second chance points.  The Lions were also solid at the free throw line, making 25 of 29 (86.2%) and finished the game shooting a respectable 44.4% (28-63) from the field including a 20-35 (57.1%) effort in the final two quarters.  Kutztown finished the game shooting 32.8% (19-58) from the field and 21 of 27 (77.8%) from the free throw line.

The women's basketball team will face Bloomsburg University in the second game of the KU Conference Challenge on Saturday, November 10, 2018.  Tipoff has been moved to 3:00 p.m.