Lincoln University, Pa. - The Lincoln University women's basketball team kicks off their 2019-20 regular season Friday evening as they serve as the host for the CIAA/PSAC Challenge.
The Lions will host Kutztown University Friday at 8:00 p.m. and then face Clarion University Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Fellow CIAA school, St. Augustine's rounds out the four team tournament.
The two Lincoln games will have live stats available as well as live video stream. The two games involving St. Augustine's University (6 pm Friday vs. clarion and 6 pm Saturday vs. Kutztown) will have live stats only.
The Lions return 10 players from last year's 17-14 team including leading scorer and All-CIAA performer Kwanza Murray (Summerville, S.C./Summerville (Lackawanna College)). Murray is one of four seniors on this year's team joined by DeAshia Young (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Public Safety Academy (Labette CC)), Kenzie Spencer (Richmond, Va./Henrico) and Brittany Hinton (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter (Baltimore City C.C)).
Murray led the Lions with an 18.0 points per game average while shooting 45.7% from the field and a school-record 45.1% from three-point range. Young had 108 assists last season to go along with a 12.9 points per game average while Spencer finished third on the team in scoring, averaging 9.7 points per game. Hinton is returning to the team after a year-long hiatus, having last played for the Lions in 2017-18.
The Lions also return their leading rebounder as junior Alisia Machado (Brooklyn, N.Y./Medgar Evars Prep (Grambling)) looks to improve upon her 7.4 rebounds per game average and a team-high 37 blocks. Juniors DeeDee Irwin (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) and Taylor King (Lorton, Va./Hayfield Secondary School) and sophomore Jamari Tillman (Louisville, Ky./Doss) also return to provide additional veteran depth in the backcourt.
Lincoln's depth will be further bolstered by the return of three players who missed most if not all of the 2018-19 season due to injury and a mix of four newcomers and transfers.
The women's basketball team's complete schedule can be found on Lincoln's website: http://lulions.com
