Box Score Ilysia Lewis drove the lane for a layup with 4.7 seconds left to lift the visiting Bloomfield College Bears to a 66-64 win over the Lincoln University women's basketball team Wednesday night at Manuel Rivero Hall

The Lions fall to 15-8 with the loss.  Bloomfield improves to 14-11.  The game was the women's team final home game of the season.

Michelle Fitzgerald (Baltimore, Md./Md. Academy of Tech & Health Science (N.C. A & T)) led the Lions with 16 points and nine rebounds.  Shecquan Bailey (Salisbury, Md./Snow Hill (Baltimore City C.C.)) added 13 points while DeeDee Irwin (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville Area), in her first collegiate start, scored ten.  Ashley Paynes-Hightower (Peoria, Ill./Peoria (Harford C.C.)) also added a season-high nine points and five rebounds.  Brianna Logan (Lumberton, N.J./Rancocas Valley (Siena)) and Bailey had four assists apiece

Zhane Robinson led the Bears scoring 31 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.  Lewis added 13 while Deja McKenzie chipped in 11.

Trailing by two at the end of the first quarter, the Lions outscored the Bears 22-7 in the second quarter to take a 37-24 lead at the break.  Fitzgerald and Irwin fueled the Lions' offense in the period, combining for 20 of Lincoln's 37 points.  Robinson had 14 of the Bears 24 first half points.

A Fitzgerald layup three minutes into the third quarter gave the Lions their biggest lead of the game at 43-28.  The Bears however would outscore the Lions 15-3 over the next six minutes to close within three 46-43.  Two free throws from Logan and a layup from Ariana Fleming (Newark, Del./Hodgon Vo-Tech) pushed the lead to six at 50-44 with just 21 seconds left.  Aanise Barnes hit a buzzer beater to make it a four point game 50-46 heading into the final stanza.

The Lions opened the quarter with a 6-2 run to take an eight point lead 56-48 at the 7:29 mark.  Over the next three minutes the lead oscillated between four and six points with Shahra Madison (Chesapeake, Va./Norfolk Collegiate School (Chesapeake College))'s two free throws at the 4:35 mark giving the Lions a 62-56 lead.  Bloomfield then ran off seven straight points to take their first lead since the end of the first quarter 63-62 with 2:28 remaining.  Bailey's layup followed and the Lions were back up by one 64-63.  Lewis made one of two free throws with 1:20 left to tie the game at 64-64 and neither team scored until Lewis made her drive to the basket in the waning seconds.   Paynes-Hightower's three-point attempt in the final second was off the mark as the Bears hung on for the win.

The Lions struggled to make shots in the second half connecting on just nine of 27 shots from the field (33.3%) while the Bears made 15 of 33 (45.4%0 and finished the game shooting 40.6% (26-64).  Lincoln finished the game shooting 37.3% (22-59).  The Lions were slightly better than the Bears on the free throw line (72.7%-57.9%).  Bloomfield held the rebounding edge 42-39 and outscored the Lions 20-15 in the second-chance-points category.   Both teams committed 16 turnovers.

The Lions return to action on Saturday, February 217, 2018 when they travel to play Virginia Union University.  Tipoff is at 2:00 p.m.