Final Stats

CHARLOTTE, NC – The Livingstone women's basketball team struggled to put points on the board in critical times Friday as the Blue Bears fell 81-70 to the Tuskegee Tigers in the first game of the 2011 Queen City Classic.

Livingstone was temporarily able to shake off its shooting woes from Wednesday early in the first half, jumping out to a quick 7-2 less than two minutes into the contest.  Tuskegee got within one at 9-8, but a 7-2 run by the Blue Bears opened up their largest lead of the half at 16-10 with 11:40 remaining. 

With 9:19 left in the first half, junior guard Kelcyn Manurs knocked down a three-pointer to put Livingstone up 25-20, but then the Blue Bears went cold from the floor.  Livingstone managed only one field goal over the final nine minutes of the half.  Tuskegee took its first lead of the game at 29-28 with 5:45 left in the half and free-throw shooting from the Blue Bears kept it close as the Tigers took a 38-35 lead into the break.

The Blue Bears came out strong again to start the second half and regained a 41-39 lead less than two minutes into the half.  The two teams battled back and forth, trading leads, for the next five minutes.  Manurs drained a long-range three with 12:36 left to bring the Blue Bears within one, but cold shooting befell Livingstone again. 

After the Manurs' triple, the Tigers went on a 13-3 run to open a 63-52 lead with 8:30 remaining.  Elicia Gilliam-Washington connected on a jumper with 7:46 remaining, but that was the last field goal the Blue Bears hit over the next 4:54.

As the clock ticked under four minutes remaining, the Blue Bears found themselves down by 16, 72-56, but there was still fight left in them.  Livingstone went on a 9-0 run that took only 1:10 off the clock to get within 72-65, but Tuskegee quickly put an end to the run and took home the 81-70 victory.

Manurs recorded her third 20-point game of the season, finishing with 20 points and four rebounds.  Also in double-figures was Montiya Harrison with 13 points and Rashida Elbourne with 11.  Jasmine Murray led the Blue Bears with nine rebounds and Tiffany Evans pulled down eight boards.

After shooting 35 percent from the field in the first half, the Blue Bears managed only 27 percent in the second half.  Livingstone continued to struggle from three-point range and at the charity stripe, hitting 22 percent of its three-point attempts and only 65 percent of its free-throw attempts.

With the loss the Blue Bears fell to 1-2 overall while Tuskegee, playing in its first game of the season, improved to 1-0 on the year.

The Blue Bears will take on the Pfieffer University Falcons Saturday at 12 p.m. in the second day of the Queen City Classic hosted by Johnson C. Smith University.