Box Score
SALISBURY, NC – The Livingstone women's basketball team dropped its final game of the regular season Saturday, falling 79-66 to the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls.
With the loss, the Blue Bears fell to 16-9 overall, 10-7 in the conference and 4-6 in the Southern Division. Johnson C. Smith improved to 22-3 overall, 15-3 in the CIAA and 8-2 in the division.
Livingstone will be the fifth seed out of the Southern Division in the CIAA Tournament that begins Monday at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC. The Blue Bears will play at 9 p.m. Monday against the Hawks of Chowan University. The Blue Bears defeated Chowan 77-73 on January 20 in Murfreesboro, NC.
Johnson C. Smith jumped out to an early lead over the Blue Bears, grabbing an 8-2 edge less than three minutes into the contest. Livingstone responded with a 5-0 run to get within one at 8-7. Over the next eight minutes the Blue Bears and Golden Bulls traded buckets at either end of the floor with Johnson C. Smith continually clinging to a slim lead.
Livingstone took its first lead of the contest with 7:39 left in the first half after Cassaundra Rhodes hit a jumper to put the Blue Bears up 16-15. Livingstone extended its lead to four points with 4:46 remaining in the half, but the Golden Bulls responded with a 7-0 run to take a 24-21 lead with three minutes left. Johnson C. Smith went into halftime with a 27-23 lead.
The Blue Bears lost a key component to their offense early in the second half as Rhodes picked up two fouls in the first 1:08 of the second half which fouled her out of the game. Johnson C. Smith slowly increased its lead and hit a 12-point cushion with 15:10 left in the game. Over the final 10 minutes of the contest the Blue Bears battled hard, but couldn't get the key defensive stop to get back into the contest as the Golden Bulls took home the victory.
Livingstone shot 32.8 percent from the field, 19 percent from the three-point range and 72 percent from the free-throw line. Johnson C. Smith shot 39.2 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from beyond the arc and 51.4 percent from the charity stripe.
