Charlotte, N.C. The Lincoln University women's basketball team has reached the semi-final round of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Basketball Tournament for the third consecutive year. Friday the #3 seed Lions will take on the #1 seed Virginia Union University Panthers
The Series:
Today's CIAA Tournament game will be the 26
th meeting between Virginia Union and Lincoln. The Panthers lead the all-time series 17-8, having swept the regular season series this year. VUU has won five straight games against the Lions. The game will be the third time the two programs have met in the CIAA Tournament with each team winning once.
About the Lions
Lincoln University enters today's CIAA Tournament game as the #3 seed in the north with a 17-13 overall record . Lincoln defeated St. Augustine's 63-52 on Tuesday and Johnson C. Smith on Thursday, 91-75 to advance to today's semi-final contest.
Kwanza Murray (Summerville, S.C./Summerville (Lackawanna College)) leads the team with a 17.7 points per game average. She also leads the team with 51 three-point field goals and is shooting 44.7% from beyond the arc and 44.9% from the field. Murray is also averaging 6.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 80.2% from the free throw line. She was named
Food Lion MVPof the game after Lincoln tournament win of St. Augustine's.
DeAshia Young (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Public Safety Academy (Labette CC)) is averaging 13.0 points per game and 5.3 rebounds/game. Young is shooting 40.0% from the field and 62.1% from the free throw line. She is also leads the team with 47 steals and 99 assists. young has recorded five double doubles on the season.
Kenzie Spencer (Richmond, Va./Henrico) is coming off the best game of her career, recording a career high 29 points and 12 rebounds vs. JCSU in the quarterfinal round. Spencer tied the school's Division II era record with six three-point field goals in yesterday's contest. She ranks third on the team, averaging 9.7 points per game. She is averaging 5.4 rebounds per game, 1.03 steals, and 1.83 assists per game, ranking third on the team in all three categories. Spencer has two double-doubles on the season.
Alisia Machado (Brooklyn, N.Y./Medgar Evars Prep (Grambling)) leads the team with 209 rebounds and a 7.5 rebounds per game average. She has recorded two double-doubles on the season and leads the team, shooting 58% from the field and her 35 blocked shots is the top mark on the team.
DeeDee Irwin (Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville) is averaging 6.3 points per game and is second on the team with 43 three point field goals made. With 30 steals she is tie dfor third on the team and has 37 assists on the season. She is the only Lions player to have appeared in all 30 games this season.
Last time Out- CIAA Tournament Quarterfinal vs. Johnson C. Smith
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Feb. 28) – The Lincoln (Pa.) women, self-dubbed the "Elite Eight", continues to roll in the CIAA Tournament.
The Lions struck Johnson C. Smith early and cruised to a 91-75 quarterfinal victory at the Spectrum Center on Thursday. They never let up against the Golden Bulls despite playing eight players.
Next up for the Lions is defending champion and nationally-ranked Virginia Union in a semifinal matchup for the second straight year on Friday at 1 p.m. AspireTV will televise the contest.
It was the Lions who attacked from the outset. They shot out to a 6-0 lead and never looked back against the Golden Bulls, the No. 2 Southern Division seed. The Golden Bulls won the regular-season meeting in Lincoln, Pa., 78-73 in December 2018.
"This is the best that we've played from the beginning all season," said Lincoln Head Coach
Darrell Mosley, whose had an eight-player squad since January 2019. "We delivered the first punch. All year, we've been playing from behind.
"When we went up 4-0, and then [10-5], I think the light switch flipped on," Mosley added. "Our confidence just increased. Once we extended the lead, we never looked back."
Led by
Kenzie Spencer (Richmond, Va./Henrico) and
Kwanza Murray (Summerville, S.C./Summerville (Lackawanna College)), the Lions handled the Golden Bulls' pressure and knocked down 14 of 26 three-pointers for 53.8 percent. The 14 threes were a season-high for the Lions. By contrast, JCSU was 2 of 17 from three-point range for 11.8 percent.
Spencer made 6 of 10 threes for a career-high 29 points and added 12 rebounds for the Lions, seeded third in the Northern Division. The six three-pointers tied Lincoln's single game school record for their Division II era.
Murray pumped in 21 points and nine rebounds, and
DeAshia Young (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Public Safety Academy (Labette CC)) tallied 12 points, seven assists and three steals.
Jamari Tillman (Louisville, Ky./Doss) tacked on 10 points including 3 of 6 three-pointers.
Last time vs. Virginia Union
The Lincoln University women's basketball team struggled offensively in the first half, falling behind by double digits to nationally ranked Virginia Union University. The Panthers extended their lead in the second half to defeat the Lions 81-56 at Manuel Rivero Hall Saturday afternoon.
The Lions fall to 14-12 overall and 8-7 in CIAA games. LU is also 5-3 in North Division games and, which is used for determining the seeding in the upcoming CIAA Tournament. The Lions are tied with Bowie State University for second place in the division. Virginia Union remains on top of the division with a 7-1 mark. The 13
th ranked Panthers are 22-2 overall and 14-2 in CIAA games.
DeAshia Young (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Public Safety Academy (Labette CC)) led the Lions with 15 points
Kwanza Murray(Summerville, S.C./Summerville (Lackawanna College))added nine points and led the team with four assists and three steals.
Alisia Machado (Brooklyn, N.Y./Medgar Evars Prep (Grambling)) led the team with ten rebounds.
Shareka McNeill exploded for 36 points to lead the Panthers. Bianca Lockamy added 14 points while Rejoice Spivey had 12 points and seven assists. Jasmine Carter led VUU with 14 rebounds.
Lions Earn Post Season Honors
Lincoln University women's basketball player
Kwanza Murray (Summerville, S.C./Summerville (Lackawanna College)) has been named to the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) All Conference Team as announced by the conference office at the CIAA Tournament Tipoff banquet Monday morning at the Charlotte Convention Center.
In addition to Murray, freshman
Jada Queen (Trenton, N.J./Trenton Catholic) was also named to the CIAA All-Rookie team.
Murray is having a stellar season for the Lions (15-13) as the team heads into tournament play. The junior guard is averaging 17.2 points per game after having missed the first ten games of the season due to transfer regulations. Her 17.2 points per game is the third highest mark in the CIAA. Murray also leads the team and the CIAA making 43.3% of her three point field goal attempts. Kwanza is also the team leader in field goal percentage, making 44.5% of her shots (7
th in CIAA) and three-point field goals made (45).
Queen was one of five players voted onto the conference All-Rookie Team. The freshman forward appeared in 15 games before leaving the team in January for academic reasons. In those 15 games, Queen averaged 7.6 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. She also had 21 blocked shots to currently rank second on the team. She earned ECAC Division II Rookie of the Month honors for December 2018.
Last Time Out for Virginia Union
Virginia Union's
Shareka McNeill tied the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women's Basketball Tournament record with 59 points as the Lady Panthers cruised to a 91-57 victory over Livingstone College Wednesday, Feb. 27, during the 2019 Women's Basketball Quarterfinal Round at the Bojangles Coliseum.
McNeill tied the record with North Carolina Central's Cassie King, who set the tournament record in 2005 against Bowie State. Her 59 points also broke the Virginia Union single-game record of 49 set by Kiana Johnson in 2016.
She also became the latest Lady Panther to score 1,000 points in a career and set a new VUU season record with 91 three-pointers in a single season.
As the winner, Virginia Union (25-2) advanced to the semifinal round to face the winner of Johnson C. Smith and the Lincoln (Pa.) on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Spectrum Center.
McNeill, who was the lone Lady Panther to score in double digits, lit up the scoreboard on 19-of-29 shooting from the field and featured 14-of-20 shooting from the 3-point line while Darra Walker paced Livingstone (10-20) with 14 points. Livingstone's Daisa Harris would finish with 12 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and one block to round out the double figure scorers.
In the opening quarter, the Lady Panthers took a 34-16 lead ignited by McNeill's 25 points in the quarter.
