Trevin Goodwin contributed to this story

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The #3 Lincoln Lions women's basketball team used an early surge to pull away for a 63-52 win over the Saint Augustine's Lady Falcons  Tuesday afternoon. After building an early lead, the Lions made some clutch defensive plays to pull out the win in the opening round of the 2019 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament.
 
With the win, the Lions improve to 16-13 overall and they advance to the quarter-final round of the tournament where they will take on the second-seeded Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls, Thursday, at 3:00 at Spectrum Center. Saint Augustine's finishes their season at 3-23
 
The game saw a great defensive effort for both teams with both teams struggling to make shots in the game. As a team, Lincoln (Pa.) shot just 27.7% (13-of-47) from the floor while the Lady Falcons were held to shooting just 26.9% (18-of-67) from the floor. The Lions benefited from an aggressive offensive attack as they shot 66.0% (31-of-47) from the free throw line. Junior guard Kwanza Murray (Summerville, S.C./Summerville (Lackawanna College)) led the way for the Lions with 24 points in the game. Junior guard Kenzie Spencer (Richmond, Va./Henrico) added a double-double 15 points with 10 rebounds. Junior DeAshia Young (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Public Safety Academy (Labette CC)) also added a double-double with 10 points and ten rebounds.
 
Saint Augustine's was led by senior guard Kelsee Arnold with 20 points in the game. Junior guard Angela Carabello added 11 points.
 
"They played a gritty scrappy game for the entire 40 minutes. They never let up. We would get a lead and just kept fighting," said Lions Head Coach Darrell Mosley. "I just told my team, we have to endure the punches."
 
The Lady Falcons came out with a strong performance early in the first quarter, but the team soon had to hold off a strong comeback effort by the Lions. The Lady Falcons opened the quarter with a great defensive effort as they held the Lions without a field goal for the first four minutes of the game until a three-pointer from junior guard Kwanzaa Murray with 5:10 left in the first quarter of play. The effort left the Lady Falcons holding a 9-4 lead over the Lions. However, Lincoln  stormed right back as the three-pointer sparked an eight point run that was capped by a second Murray three-pointer that tied the game 9-9 with 4:14 left in the first quarter. Junior guard Angela Carabello broke the tie with a lay-up with 1:52 left in the quarter. The score sparked a 4-1 run by the Falcons that ended the quarter holding a 13-10 lead heading into the second quarter.
 
In the second quarter, it was the Lions who came out with a strong opening and a strong finish to claim a lead heading into the locker room at halftime. The Lions opened the quarter with an eight-point run that gave the team an 18-12 lead after a pair of free throws from junior guard Kenzie Spencer (Richmond, Va./Henrico) with 7:24 left in the second quarter. SAU answered the run when senior guard Bianca Igwe hit a three-point play with 6:34 left in the second quarter to keep the Lady Falcons within reach, trailing 18-16.  Senior guard Kelsee Arnold gave the Lady Falcons a big lift when she scored five straight points with a three pointer, followed by a jumper to put the Lady Falcons back on top, 21-20 with 2:00 left on the second quarter. The final minute of the quarter belonged to the Lions who held the Lady Falcons scoreless and scored four unanswered points in the final minute to take a 24-21 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
The third quarter saw Lions continue their hot start as they opened the quarter with an 11-1 run that was capped by Murray's second three-pointer of the quarter to take a 35-22 lead with 6:30 left. It wasn't until the 5:11 mark in the quarter that the Lady Falcons would hit their first field goal when Carabello hit a lay-up and free throw that left the Lady Falcons trailing, 37-25 with 4:57 left in the third quarter. The score gave the Lady Falcons some much needed life as it sparked an 8-1 run by the Falcons late cut the team's deficit down to eight points, 38-30 with 3:49 left in the third quarter.  The Lady Falcons kept up the pressure with some strong play in the final minutes, but the Lions were able to hold them off and took a 43-36 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
The fourth quarter was a dramatic one with stars from both teams making big plays. Arnold opened things for the Lady Falcons with  a pair of big three-pointers to cut the SAU deficit down to t just five points, 47-42 with just under eight minutes left to play, but the Lions' Spencer answered with a three-pointer of her own to keep Lincoln  on top, 50-42 with 7:40 left to play. The three-pointer was the final field goal of the game for the Lions as the team used some clutch free throw shooting to close out the victory. The Lions hit 13 free throws in the final seven minutes of the game and turned to some quality defense to hold off the Lady Falcons. Saint Augustine's would not make it easy as they made a furious effort in the final seconds as Arnold hit her sixth three-pointer of the game and her fourth of the second half to cut the SAU deficit down to 11 points, 62-51 with 00:59 left to play. However, in the end, the Lions proved to be too much for the Lady Falcons and pulled out the win.