Box Score The first major upset of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) Women's Basketball Tournament took place Thursday afternoon as Winston-Salem State University defeated Lincoln University 63-59 in overtime to advance to the tournament semi-finals on Friday.

The Rams, who entered the tournament as the #3 seed from the South division improve to 14-15.  The Lions, who were the #2 seed from the north division fall to 23-6 and have to hope for a possible at large bid to the NCAA division II Tournament.

Kwanza Murray (Summerville, S.C./Summerville (Lackawanna College)) led all scorers with 16 points while DeAshia Young (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Public Safety Academy (Labette CC)) led the Lions with seven rebounds.

Murray also broke Lincoln's single season scoring mark with her 16-point effort.  The senior guard entered the game need seven points to eclipse the previous mark of 502 set by Shenice Nesmith back in 2006-07.  Murray reached the mark with her first free throw at the 1:26 mark of the third quarter.

The Rams jumped out to an early 10-2 lead in the opening quarter as both teams were getting adjusted to the spaciousness of the Spectrum Center.  The Lions settled down and used an 11-3 run in the final five minutes of the quarter to tie the game at 13.

WSSU scored the first six points of the second quarter while Lincoln continued to struggle offensively.  The Lions did battle and take a 23-22 lead on a Joy Morton (Lansdowne, Pa./Penn Wood (Harford C.C.)) three-pointer with 3:46 left but the Rams closed out the quarter with an 8-2 spurt to lead 31-25 at the break.

The back and forth battle intensified in the third quarter as the lead exchanged hands eight times and the score was tied five times.  Lincoln scored the first seven points of the game to take a 32-31 lead with six lead changes to follow over the next three minutes.  Neither team made a field goal over the final five minutes of the quarter with each team making four free throws and the Rams holding a 41-40 lead.

Murray sank four straight free throws to open the fourth quarter, giving the Lions their biggest lead of the game, at 44-41 but WSSU's Jahlia Williams quickly tied it up with a three-point basket, triggering a 7-0 run and take a 48-44 lead.  Lincoln battled back to tie the game again and a three-pointer from the 2020 CIAA Player of the Year put the Lions back on top 54-51 with 1:47 left.  WSSU retook the lead, 56-55 with 21 seconds left on a Brandi Segars jumper before LU's Kenzie Spencer (Richmond, Va./Henrico) made one of two free throws to tie the game and send it into overtime.

The Rams limited the Lions to just three free throws in the overtime as they controlled the action from the jump taking a quick 58-56 lead on a WSSU basket.  Two free throws from Bryanna Brown (New York, N.Y./Bishop Loughlin (Nyack)) tied the game at 58-58 and Taylor Daniels again put the Rams up by two with a basket at the 2:47 mark.  Lincoln pulled within one with another free throw but the Rams made three of four from the foul line in the final 19 seconds with Segars sinking the final two with eight seconds left to seal the 63-59 win.