Charlotte, N.C. (March 2, 2018) – The Lincoln University women's basketball team saw its CIAA Tournament run come to an end as fourth-ranked Virginia Union had a huge first quarter, holding Lincoln to just four points and cruised the rest of the way, taking a 73-50 win in the CIAA women's basketball semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Spectrum Center in Uptown Charlotte.

The Lions complete their season with an 18-11 record while the Panthers improve to 27-2 and will face Bowie State University in the CIAA Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Teira Pendleton (Baltimore, Md./Baltimore Polytech) led the Lions with 15 points while Michelle Fitzgerald (Baltimore, Md./Md. Academy of Tech & Health Science (N.C. A & T)) added ten.  Shahra Madison (Chesapeake, Va./Norfolk Collegiate School (Chesapeake College)) grabbed a team-high seven rebuonds and had three steals.

Alexis Johnson led all scorers with 20 points for Virginia Union and  also pulled down 11 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season. Freshman Shareka McNeill had 16 points and senior Rachel Pecota finished with 15.  Rejoice Spivey dished out 10 assists and finished with six rebounds.

In the first quarter, the Lions struck first, going ahead 2-0, but VUU responded with an 19-2 run to grab the 21-4 lead.  During the span, Johnson scored 11 points with the McNeill sisters, Shareka and Shameka each adding a three-point field goal.  Rejoice Spivey's layup  made the score 21-4 at the end of the first quarter.  Lincoln had just two field goals in the quarter.

The Lion's scoring drought continued into the second quarter, with VUU getting a three-pointer from Pecota to make it 27-4 at the 8:13 mark.  The Lions finally scratched the scoreboard at 7:45 of the second quarter, ending a scoring drought of 8:36 when Pendleton hit a free throw to make it 27-5. The free throw ignited a quick 6-0 burst for Lincoln, with Ashley Paynes-Hightower (Peoria, Ill./Peoria (Harford C.C.)) connecting on a layup while being fouled.  Her free throw cut the VUU lead to 27-10.

The Panthers continued their smothering defense, limiting Lincoln to just two additional points, as they took the 38-12 lead into halftime. For the half, Virginia Union returned a 61.5% effort from the field (16-of-26) while Lincoln was just the opposite, managing only 14.8% (4-of-27).

In the third quarter, VUU went ahead 38-14 and held at least a 20-point lead throughout, until Lincoln cut it to 55-40 at the 6:21 mark of the fourth quarter.  From there, Virginia Union regrouped and pushed the lead to their largest of the game, 27 points (71-44) with just 1:30 remaining, eventually taking the 73-50 win and advancing to Saturday's championship game.

The Lions finished the game shooting 29% (14-35) while the Panthers made 26-53 (49.1%) of their shots from the field . Lincoln made 12-of-18 from the free throw line (66.7%) while the Panthers connected on 13-of-22 (59.1%).   The Panthers also outrebounded the Lions 45-34.