Hill's Sixth Double-Double Leads LU to 59-57 Win

ZURI HILL
COURTESY: LINCOLN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

TAHLEQUAH, Oklahoma -- Zuri Hill recorded her sixth double-double of the season and grabbed three huge rebounds in the final two minutes to lead the Lincoln women's basketball team to a 59-57 win at Northeastern State on Saturday (Jan. 30).

The Blue Tigers led for nearly the entire game, including holding the RiverHawks to just seven second quarter points en route to a 28-22 halftime lead. Northeastern State mounted a big comeback in the fourth quarter, however, scoring the first seven points of the period to force a 46-46 tie.

Azaria Nave stopped the run with a three-pointer, and an old-fashioned three-point play by Asia McCaskill gave LU a 52-48 advantage. The RiverHawks used a layup and a trey on back-to-back possessions to take a one-point lead, however, and later entered the final two minutes of the contest with a 57-56 advantage.

After a missed jumper, NSU had the opportunity to add to its lead, but Hill grabbed a defensive rebound to give Lincoln another chance. The Blue Tigers missed a three-point shot, but Hill grabbed the rebound, her ninth offensive board of the contest, and sank a layup to but Lincoln back on top.

With 16 seconds remaining, the RiverHawks missed a shot on their end, and once again it was Hill coming down with the rebound. Forced to foul, Northeastern State sent Sarah Neptune to the line, who made one of her two free throws to give LU the two-point advantage. The RiverHawks were unable to get a shot off after that point, as Lincoln held on for its second road win in its past three tries.

Hill finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Lizzie Nessling was also close to a double-double, finishing with eight points and nine boards. Nave and Hunter Yoakum each scored 10 points, with Yoakum also grabbing three rebounds and dishing a pair of assists.

Neptune scored four points, pulled down three rebounds and led the Blue Tigers with six assists. McCaskill tallied six points, four boards and a pair of steals while Jasmine Guthrie came down with five rebounds to go with two points. Dorian Briggs rounded out the scoring for LU with a made three-pointer while also recording a pair of rebounds.

Lincoln improves to 8-13 overall and 4-11 in MIAA play with the win. Northeastern State, meanwhile, falls to 6-15 on the season and 3-12 in the conference.

The Blue Tigers, currently in the midst of a four-game road swing, will be in Maryville, Mo. next Thursday (Feb. 4) to play Northwest Missouri at 5:30 p.m. CST.

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Dan Carr, Assistant AD for Media Relations
LINCOLN UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS

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

Softball first baseman Torrian Wright enjoying every minute at Savannah State

TORRIAN WRIGHT
COURTESY: SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
 

SAVANNAH, Georgia --Torrian Wright is happy.

The Savannah State slugger is the softball team’s musician. She would bring her guitar into the dugout if she could, but when her team needs a rallying cry, she improvises. She turns over a couple of buckets and starts beating the drums.

Before each game, she’s always dancing. She once fell over doing so, sending a wave of gut-busting laughter through her teammates. She got back up and laughed it off with them.

She once tripped face-first while coming off the field into her team’s dugout. Everyone at the game saw it happen. She got up, still laughing.

But at the plate, she’s no joke. Nothing gets to her, least of all falling behind in the count 0-2.

One can go on and on about how Wright’s numbers are so impressive from so many angles. The senior has done nothing but set records since arriving on the Savannah State campus, terrorizing opposing pitchers with 46 homers and 142 runs with a career slugging percentage of .893 and an on-base percentage of .584.

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HU women maintain spot in first place with 73-62 win over Norfolk State

HAMPTON, Virginia -- In the latest installment of the “Battle of the Bay,” Hampton Univeristy’s women’s basketball team maintained its spot atop the MEAC standings and added another L to Norfolk State’s winless season.

Mikayla Sayle had a career day with 15 points and nine rebounds as the Lady Pirates defeated the Spartans 73-62 Saturday at the Convocation Center. HU led by 24 points early in the third quarter but had trouble putting away the Spartans, who have lost 20 consecutive games dating back to last season.

It was the fifth consecutive win for the Lady Pirates (9-12, 7-1 MEAC), who maintained their one-game lead in the conference standings. On the other side of that spectrum, Norfolk State (0-19, 0-9) remains one of two winless teams in Division I.

Malia Tate-DeFreitas had 24 points and six rebounds.

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ESPN 'SportsCenter' to Broadcast from Hampton University Before Pirates First Men's Lacrosse Game

February 13th is the date of the first varsity LAX game for Hampton, the first NCAA
 Division I men's team from a historically black college or university in 35 years.
Morgan State played its final season in 1981.
Hampton Lacrosse ... It's Real
Courtesy: Lacrosse Magazine

HAMPTON, Virginia -- On Saturday, Feb. 13, the Hampton University men's lacrosse team will open its home slate at 12:30 p.m. in Armstrong Stadium against Div. II Roberts Wesleyan College.

Prior to the game, ESPN will broadcast from Armstrong Stadium with SportsCenter on the Road from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. This will mark the first time ESPN has broadcast its series from Hampton University and it ties in with the program's inaugural Div. I lacrosse season.

Lacrosse Magazine has taken notice and posted this story to its website on Wednesday.

Hampton is the 70th NCAA Div. I school to field a men's lacrosse program, and it will be the first-ever HBCU to field a Div. I program. Hampton is the first HBCU to play men's lacrosse overall since Morgan State in 1981. Pirates head coach Lloyd Carter was a member of that Bears team, a Div. II power that defeated the likes of Villanova, Michigan State, Georgetown, and Not
re Dame.

Lacrosse Magazine also featured the program for its November 2015 cover story.

Let's show that Pirate Pride and come out for a historic day at Hampton University, starting with the ESPN broadcast at 10 a.m. and the first varsity men's lacrosse game at 12:30 p.m.

Hampton University Sailing Announces Spring 2016 Schedule

HAMPTON, Virginia -- Hampton University head sailing coach Alessandro Ambrosi has announced the Pirates' spring 2016 schedule, a slate that includes a pair of home regattas.

The Pirates, who won three regattas in the fall, will open the spring in the Charleston Intercollegiate in Charleston, S.C. on Feb. 20-21, before hosting the Pirate Team Race at Strawberry Banks on Feb. 27-28.

From there, Hampton will sail in the ODU Spring Open on March 5-6, before heading to Williamsburg, Va. on March 19-20 for the William & Mary Spring Open. After that, the Pirates will return to Strawberry Banks for the MAISA/SAISA Intersectional on March 26-27.

April will kick off with the CNU Webb Open on April 2-3, before the Pirates head to Philadelphia, Pa. on April 9-10 for the Nova Spring Open. Hampton will then compete in the Grant Trophy on April 16-17 in West Long Branch, N.J., before heading to New York, N.Y. for the Great N.Y. Dinghy on April 23-24.

The America Trophy will be held April 30-May 1 in the Bronx, N.Y.

For more information on Hampton University sailing, please call the Office of Sports Information at (757) 727-5811, or visit the official Pirates website at www.hamptonpirates.com.

Date		Opponent	Location	Time
2/20-21/2016		Charleston Interconference	Charleston, S.C.	All Day
2/27-28/2016		Pirate Team Race	Hampton, Va.	All Day
3/5-6/2016		ODU Spring Open	Norfolk, Va.	All Day
3/19-20/2016		William & Mary Spring Open	Williamsburg, Va.	All Day
3/26-27/2016		MAISA/SAISA Intersectional	Hampton, Va.	All Day
4/2-3/2016		CNU Webb Open	Newport News, Va.	All Day
4/9-10/2016		Nova Spring Open	Philadelphia, Pa.	All Day
4/16-17/2016		Grant Trophy	West Long Branch, N.J.	All Day
4/23-24/2016		Great N.Y. Dinghy	New York, N.Y.	All Day
4/30-5/1/2016		America Trophy	Bronx, N.Y.	All Day

COURTESY HAMPTON UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Rush, Nuggets add 3 from France for spring semester

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's tennis program has added three from France for the 2016 spring semester. All are freshmen.
    
The new student-athletes are Thomas Setodji of Domont on the men's team and Charlene Goreau of Toulouse and Tess Guarino of Billere on the women's team.
    
Setodji and Goreau are multiple age-group state champions in singles. Setodji has won three titles, and Goreau has won four.
    
Xavier, whose men are fourth and women 11th in the NAIA preseason team rankings, will play its home opener at 10 a.m. Saturday against city rival Loyola at XU Tennis Center.
    
SCHEDULE UPDATE:  The Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets will play three ranked NAIA opponents apiece in the Green and Gray Invitational at Lawrenceville, Ga. On Feb. 19 Xavier will play SCAD Savannah, whose men are ranked 21st and women are fourth. The next day Xavier will play the top-ranked men and second-ranked women of host Georgia Gwinnett. On Feb. 21 Xavier will play Cumberland, whose men are 22nd and women are 14th.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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