Box Score Defense took over as the Lincoln University women's basketball team held Elizabeth City State University to just 25% shooting from the field as they cruised to a 74-45 win over the Vikings Tuesday night at the R.L. Vaughn Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.

The Lions, ranked #6 in the most recent D2SIDA Atlantic Region media poll and receiving votes in the WBCA Division II top 25 national poll, improve to 13-2 overall and 4-1 in Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) games.  The Vikings fall to 6-8 overall and 2-3 in league play.

The Lions held the Vikings to just 15 field goals (15-60), marking the third time in four games the team has held an opponent under 30% for the game.  Entering Tuesday night's contest, the Lions ranked second in the CIAA in field goal percentage defense, holding opponents on the season to just 34.5% shooting.  That mark also ranks #24 in the country among all NCAA Division II schools.

Kwanza Murray (Summerville, S.C./Summerville (Lackawanna College)) led all scorers with 18 points and also grabbed a game and season-high seven rebounds.  Joy Morton (Lansdowne, Pa./Penn Wood (Harford C.C.)) added nine points while DeAshia Young (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Public Safety Academy (Labette CC)) chipped in eight.  Young also had seven rebounds and dished out a game-high five assists.  Bryanna Brown (New York, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin (Nyack)) also recorded five assists on the night.  All 14 Lincoln players who saw action the game scored at least one point.

Brown's three-point field goal in the first period broke a 5-5 tie and triggered an 18-2 uprising by the Lions as they took an early double digit lead.  Lincoln also got three-balls from Murray and Kenzie Spencer (Richmond, Va./Henrico) along with a traditional three-point play from Young.  Young's free throw with 2:10 left gave the Lions a 23-7 lead.  Shahra Madison (Chesapeake, Va./Norfolk Collegiate School (Chesapeake College)) kept the rally going with a layup with 1:50 left and the Lions carried a 25-10 lead into the second quarter.

The Lions lead oscillated between 12 and 18 points through much of the second quarter when Young and Alisia Machado (Brooklyn, N.Y./Medgar Evars Prep (Grambling)) sank back-to-back buckets to push LU's lead to 22.   Skydajah Patterson (Bronx, N.Y./) later took a pass from Taylor King (Lorton, Va./Hayfield Secondary School) in the final minute to give the Lions their biggest lead of the half 42-18.  ECSU's Nyanga Blango added in bucket with 30 seconds left to round of the scoring as Lincoln took a 42-20 lead into the locker room at the break.

In the third quarter Shantel Cheeks' (Washington D.C./Rock Creek Christian Academy (Harcum College)) three-point bucket pushed LU's lead to 49-22 just before the media timeout before the Vikings battled back to close within 20 with a 10-3 run.  Murray and Morton closed out the quarter with back-to-back three-balls, giving Lincoln a 62-36 lead heading into the final quarter.

The Vikings would come no closer than 23 the rest of the way and the Lions closed out the game on an 8-2 run with Shakira Edwards (Newark, N.J./Bloomfield Tech) giving Lincoln their largest lead of the game, 31 points 74-43 with just over a minute left.

Tiffany McCarter led the Vikings with 11 points while Sydnee Neal pulled down a team-high five rebounds.  Naomi Lockamy had four assists.

Lincoln shot 40% for the game while holding the Vikings to just 15 baskets on 60 shots (25%).  It marked the third time in four games that Lincoln has held an opponent under 30% shooting.  Lincoln also committed a season low nine turners while forcing 14 and outscoring ECSU 19-5 in the points off turnovers category.

The Lions return to action on Thursday, January 9, 2020 when they take on Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Tip off is at 5:30 p.m.