Box Score
ELIZABETH CITY, NC – The Livingstone women's basketball team fell in its CIAA opener Thursday, 79-66, on the road at Elizabeth City State University.
The difference in the game came on the boards as the Vikings (8-3, 1-0) pulled down 64 rebounds including 34 offensive boards while the Blue Bears (5-3, 0-1) grabbed 30 rebounds. The 30 offensive rebounds for Elizabeth City led to 21 second-chance points.
Livingstone got on the board to start the game, going up 2-0, but then the Blue Bears went cold from the floor. Elizabeth City went on a 12-0 run and led 12-2 with 15:14 left in the first half. Despite the shooting struggles, the Blue Bears were far from done.
The Blue Bears battled back against the Vikings and got within four points at 15-11 with 10:47 left in the half. Each time Livingstone made a run, Elizabeth City equaled that run. The Blue Bears trailed by nine with 4:36 left. Montiya Harrison banked home a three-pointer with 1:24 left to get Livingstone within five, but Elizabeth City matched that with its own three-pointer with 31 seconds left and took a 35-27 lead into the half.
Brittany Wright led the Blue Bears with six points at the half and also had four rebounds. Elizabeth City dominated Livingstone on the boards in the first half 33-15 including 17 offensive rebounds leading to 10 second-chance points.
In the second half the Blue Bears continually made runs at the Vikings, but couldn't score the key bucket to get the momentum they needed. Through the first 10 minutes of the second half the lead for the Vikings huddled around the 10-point mark. With 9:26 left the Blue Bears trailed by 13 at 58-45.
Livingstone's Montiya Harrison and Tiffany Evans knocked down three pointers on consecutive possessions to get the Blue Bears within seven, but that was as close as the team got in the second half. Elizabeth City responded with back-to-back three-point plays to go back up by 13. In the final five minutes the Blue Bears continued to battle, but the Vikings were too much.
Rashida Elbourne and Brittany Wright led the Blue Bears with 13 points while Kelcyn Manurs added 11 points. Elizabeth City had two players finish with double-doubles as Kenyatta Gill had 22 points and 18 rebounds while Stephanie Harper finished with 17 points and 15 boards.
The Blue Bears shot 35 percent from the field including 35.3 percent from beyond the arc and 58.1 percent from the free-throw line. Elizabeth City shot 41.2 percent from the field including 28.6 percent from three-point range and 55.9 percent from the charity stripe.
The Blue Bears will continue in conference play at home on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. when the Lincoln University Lions come to Trent Gymnasium.
