Shakira Edwards (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) led four scorers in double figures with a career-high 25 points as the Lincoln University women's basketball team pulled away in the fourth quarter to earn the first Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association win of the season, defeating Livingstone College 89-76 at Manuel Rivero hall Monday night.
 
The Lions improve to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in CIAA games.  The Blue Bears fall to 3-7 overall and 0-2 in league play.
 
Edwards connected on nine of 14 shots from the field and was 5-for-6 from the free throw line, scoring a career high 25 points to lead all scorers.  Kwanza Murray (Summerville, S.C./Summerville (Lackawanna College)) reached the 20-point plateau for the second game in a row, notching an even 20 points on 7-14 shooting from the field (3-6  3 FG, 3-3 FT).  Jada Queen (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) recorded her second double-double of the season with a career-high 16 points and ten rebounds.  Kenzie Spencer (Richmond, Va./Henrico) rounded out the Lincoln double figure scorers with ten points.  Deja Reynolds (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter (Temple)) dished out a career-high ten assists while Edwards and Murray added nine and seven rebounds respectively.
 
The Lions had built a double digit lead in the first period only to have the Blue Bears chip away in the middle two quarters.  Lincoln held a49-41 lead at halftime but the Blue Bears outscored the Lions 20-10 in the third quarter to take a 61-59 lead heading into the final quarter.
 
Alisia Machado's (Brooklyn, N.Y./Medgar Evars Prep (Grambling)) layup tied the game at 61-61 45 seconds into the quarter and Murray added a layup+one to put the Lions up three 64-61.  Lincoln's lead oscillated between one and three points for the next 3:44 until a free throw from Edwards at the 4:13 mark put the Lions up four 73-69 and started an 11-4 run that saw the Lions lead grow to ten points 83-73 with 1:22 left.  The Lions connected on seven of eight free throws during the run and got layups from Edwards and Reynolds. The Blue Bears cut the lead to eight but that was as close as they would come as the Lions were a perfect 4-4 from the free throw line in the final minute and finished the game with their largest lead of the contest 89-76.  Edwards scored 13 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter.
 
For the game, Lincoln shot 44.1% (30-68) from the field, 33.3% (6-18) from three point range and 76.7% (23-30) from the free throw line.  Livingstone shot 40.6% (26-64) from the field, 39.3% (11-28) from three point range and 54.2% (13-24) from the foul line.  The Lions outrebounded the Blue Bears 52-34, marking the third time in four games they have grabbed 50 or more rebounds.  Lincoln committed one less turnover (14-15) and had eight steals on the night.
 
Lincoln will close out their homestand with a game on Wednesday against Claflin University at Manuel Rivero Hall.  Tipoff is at 5:30 p.m.