Box Score
SALISBURY, NC – The Livingstone women's basketball team snapped a six-game losing skid Saturday as they came from behind to down the Virginia Union Panthers 92-83.
The victory was the first conference win for the Blue Bears which improved their CIAA mark to 1-3 and their overall record to 3-6. Virginia Union fell to 2-6 overall and 0-6 in the conference.
Junior forward Brittany Wright had her best game of the season as she notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 boards. Senior guard Kayler McBride led the team in scoring with 23 points. Sophomore guard Rashida Elbourne had 20 points and six boards and junior forward Cassaundra Rhodes scored 13 points and had six rebounds.
The Blue Bears started strong hitting two of their first three shots to go up 5-0. Livingstone continued to lead 11-5, but a 12-2 Virginia Union run gave the Panthers a 17-13 lead with 11:47 to go in the first half. Virginia Union's largest lead of seven points came with 6:15 to go, but the Blue Bears were able to cut the deficit down to two with 1:12 to play.
Virginia Union led by six with 16 seconds left, but a trey by freshman guard Kelcyn Manurs got Livingstone within three. The Panthers took the inbound off the made shot and worked the clock down under 10 seconds and Kara Scott hit a 12-foot runner as the horn sounded to give Virginia Union a five-point advantage at the half.
Elbourne led the Blue Bears with 11 points at halftime while Brittany Wright led in rebounds with five. Rebounds hurt the Blue Bears in the first half as the Panthers pulled down 13 more boards than did the Blue Bears.
Livingstone started strong, cutting the Panther lead down to two with 17:11 remaining, but an 8-0 run gave the Panthers a 57-47 lead with 15:13 left in the game. The Blue Bears trailed by as much as 11 in the second half and trailed by 10 with 13:07 to play. Livingstone rattled off a 10-3 run to bring the Panther lead down to three with 10:05 remaining.
Virginia Union went on a run of their own and got their lead back to seven, but Livingstone didn't quit. They went on their own 5-0 run to get within two with 5:48 left. With 5:15 showing on the clock Elbourne was fouled on a three-point attempt and was given three free throws and connected on all of them to give Livingstone a 74-73 lead.
After Livingstone took their first lead of the night since 14:59 of the first half, the teams traded buckets up and down the court. With 3:10 on the clock, McBride connected on a jumper and was fouled. She converted the free throw and put Livingstone back up 79-78, a lead the Blue Bears didn't relinquish. The Blue Bears covereted their free throw attempts down the stretch to seal the victory.
As a team the Blue Bears shot 45 percent from the field on 32-of-71 shooting. Livingstone committed only 13 turnovers to the Panthers' 23 and scored 31 points off the Panthers' turnovers.
The Livingstone women will continue with their second game of a three-game home stand Monday when they host Virginia State. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
