The Lincoln Lady Lions Defeat The Trojans of Virginia State By One Basket

De'jah Taylor
Courtesy: The Lincoln University Athletics

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY, Pennsylvania -- The Lady Lions were victorious today as they upended the Trojans of Virginia State University by the score of 53-51. The game was a tale of two halves. The Lions were slow to get out of the gate in the first half,   falling behind by as many as 10 points. Their lack of scoring and inability to prevent the Trojans from scoring was the result of turnovers that were caused by the Trojans full press.

Coach Mosley recognized the problem and made some adjustments. He brought in freshmen guard Jaeda Davis (Milwaukee, WI/Rufus King HS) whose quickness was the difference in setting up the offense. The team came back and scored when sophomore Teira Pendleton (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Poly Institute) was able to get into the paint and make some tough baskets in traffic. She led the team in scoring with 12 points. She was joined in double figures by senior Amani Clark (Middletown, DE/Appoquinimink HS) who scored 11. Junior forward Dejah Taylor also posted double figure stats with 13 rebounds. She narrowly missed a double-double with 9 points. Her effort was very much needed as the Trojan had the height advantage. She and the Lions had to step up their attack on the boards to make some tough baskets with quickness and hustle.  Amani Clark (Middletown, DE/Appoquinimink HS) who came up with a timely steal which lead to a score towards the end of the half help turn the tide for the Lions. They finished the second quarter just one point down.

The second half was tight and became a defensive struggle. The Trojans Wynterra Pittman kept her team in the game with some clutch jump shots. She scored 15 for the game leading her team. The Lions kept their composure throughout the half not settling for jump shots. The team instead kept working the perimeter until they could find a seam or hole big enough to attack. The result was a lead that was never more than 7 points which in the CIAA means nothing. The Trojans never gave up and made it interesting in the final minutes of the game. Fortunately the Lions held on long enough to squeak out a victory over the team that defeated them in last seasons' CIAA Championship final. The game was by no means revenge as each team has a different look due to the graduation of key players. However it's always nice to defend home turf against a CIAA northern division opponent and even better when they got you the last time.

The afternoons win gives takes the team's record to 11-8 overall and 6-5 in CIAA play. Most important, they are now 3-2 in northern division play which places them in 3^rd place. The team plays next Saturday February 6, 2016 at Bowie State University. Game time is 1:00 pm.

Box Score

COURTESY THE LINCOLN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION