Livingstone Lady Blue Bears Roll Past Bowie State in First Round of CIAA Tournament

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- The Livingstone College Lady Blue Bears advanced to the second round of the CIAA Tournament on Tuesday, February 24th with a 91-73 win over Bowie State University. The Lady Blue Bears, the third seed out of the CIAA Southern Division, advance to the next round with a 10-19 record while the Lady Bulldogs, the sixth seed out of the Northern Division, end their season with a 9-18 mark.

Each team had four players score double-digit points in the contest. Amber Curtis led the effort for Livingstone with 18 points while Precious Roberts added 16 points in the victory. Labrea Walker chipped in 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds (two offensive, seven defensive) while Cierra York followed with 11 points.

"I think we played a phenomenal first half but the challenge was to match that intensity in the second half. Now it's time to break down some film and get ready to face a tough Johnson C. Smith University," noted Livingstone head coach Anita Howard.

Ty-Nita Baker paced Bowie State with 18 points. Sheldeen Joseph added 14 points while Donia Naylor chipped in 12 points and 11 rebounds (four offensive, seven defensive). Keira Phipps rounded out the double-digit scoring effort with 11 points.

"I'm extremely proud of this team. We got off to a slow start today but our team never gave up and fought all the way until the end of the game. I honestly think the slow start is what hurt us the most today," stated Bowie State interim head coach Shadae Swan.

York started the contest with a jumper for the Livingstone. The bucket marked the start of a 13-0 run before Baker's jumper for Bowie State at the 14:57 mark brought an end to a five minute scoring drought for Bowie State. With 13:40 left in the first half, Jourdan Stanhope netted a layup for the Lady Bulldogs to cut the deficit to nine points (16-7). After a free throw by York for Livingstone, Joseph netted a layup for Bowie State allowing the Bulldogs to pull within eight points, 17-9, at the 12:43 mark.

A jumper by Alexis Hicks on the Lady Blue Bears' next possession contributed to a 16-2 run for Livingstone, leaving Bowie State trailing 33-11 with 8:23 on the clock in the first half. The Lady Bulldogs were unable to stop Livingstone's momentum and headed into halftime trailing 55-24.

Amber Curtis' three-pointer with 18:40 on the clock in the first half gave the Lady Blue Bears a 34 point lead (63-29) and their largest advantage of the contest. Trailing 69-37 with 14:21 on the clock, Naylor's made free throws led to a 9-0 run for Bowie State. The late run proved to be short lived as Livingstone regained a 30 point advantage (76-46) with 10:41 remaining in the contest.

Down but not out, Bowie State used a 9-2 run to make the score78-55 after Naylor's jumper.

Livingstone held onto the momentum for the remainder of the contest and closed out the game with the 91-73 victory.

The Lady Blue Bears take on Johnson C. Smith University on Wednesday, February 25th. Tip-off is slated for 4:30pm in Time Warner Cable Arena.

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Written By: Alison Kolezynski (Chowan SID)
COURTESY CHOWAN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION