Box Score
BOWIE, MD – A 10-0 run early in the second half by the Bulldogs of Bowie State was too much for the Livingstone women's basketball team to overcome Saturday evening as they fell 64-53.
Livingstone was led offensively by junior guard Montiya Harrison who notched her first double-double of the season as she scored 14 points and had 10 assists. Harrison also pulled down six boards. Senior guard Kayler McBride scored 13 points and junior forward Cassaundra Rhodes led the Blue Bears with seven rebounds.
Bowie State and Livingstone got into a war of three pointers to kick-start the contest. The Bulldogs got on the board first via the trey and McBride responded with her own. Rashida Elbourne knocked down the long-range shot to put the Blue Bears up 8-3. The five-point advantage that Livingstone held was the largest either team had for the first half.
The two teams traded buckets up and down the court with neither team able to gain a big advantage over the other. Bowie State scored with 1:30 to go in the first half to break a deadlock and the score remained the same at 23-21 into halftime. Livingstone's last field goal of the first half came with 3:43 to go as they only put points on the board from the charity stripe where they went six for nine.
Livingstone shot only 25 percent from the floor in the first half hitting six shots out of 24 attempts. Three of their field goals came from three-point range. Elbourne led the Blue Bears with eight points on 2-of-5 shooting while Cassaundra Rhodes led Livingstone on the boards with five rebounds.
Bowie State increased their lead early in the second half to four at 29-25, but a three-pointer by McBride cut the deficit down to one, but the Bulldogs responded by going on a 10-0 run and led by 11 with just over 13 minutes left in the second half. Livingstone quickly cut the lead down to seven and trailed by only six with 8:30 to play, but couldn't get any closer. Each time the Blue Bears were able to make a mini run, the Bulldogs clamped down and put a stop to any Livingstone comeback.
As a team the Blue Bears shot 35.8 percent from the field, but only 25 percent from beyond the arc, which has been a staple of their scoring this season. The Bulldogs held the advantage on the boards 49-37 and committed two less turnovers than the Blue Bears. Despite the Livingstone bench getting significant minutes, they only amassed 12 points.
With the loss the Blue Bears fell to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the CIAA while the Bulldogs improved to 2-3 overall and 2-1 in the conference.
The Livingstone women will continue on the road Monday when they travel to Lincoln, PA to take on the Lincoln Lions at 5:30 p.m.
