Final Stats

COLUMBIA, SC – Five Blue Bears scored in double figures Wednesday evening as the Livingstone women's basketball team defeated Allen University 80-68 in its final non-conference contest of the season.

Kendra McKinney led all scorers with 19 points while Stella Holloway recorded her first double-double as a Blue Bear with 14 points and 12 rebounds.  Jasmine Murray also added 15 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds while Kelcyn Manurs finished with 12 points and Montiya Harrison scored 10 points.

The first half was not pretty for the Blue Bears.  After Livingstone took the first two points of the game, Allen went on a 9-2 run to grab a 9-4 lead with 16:30 left in the first half.   The Blue Bears regained a one-point edge with 13:39 to play and the one-point lead was the largest Livingstone held for the remainder of the half.  Allen increased its lead to as much as nine points with 3:06 on the clock, but the Blue Bears were able to close within five at the half, 35-30.

Livingstone came out much stronger to start the second half, getting out on a 15-4 run grabbing a 45-39 lead with 14:41 left to play.  Allen fought back on an 11-5 run of its own to take a 50-49 with 10:10 remaining. 

The Blue Bears held strong with the pressure defense that had gotten them the lead and regained a 55-53 edge with 8:53 remaining and didn't look back.  Livingstone increased its lead to 11 with 4:39 left and after a brief rally by Allen, the Blue Bears held on to take the 80-68 victory.

After shooting 34.3 percent in the first half, the Blue Bears shot a blistering 52 percent in the second half.  Livingstone struggled from three-point range, connecting on only one of nine attempts.  The Blue Bears had a solid night at the charity stripe, going 23-for-25 from the free-throw line.

Livingstone will return to conference action on Saturday when the Blue Bears head to Raleigh, NC to take on the Shaw Bears in a 2 p.m. contest.