Bears Athletics - Lady Bears Down ECSU 67-56

Defense Keeps ECSU On Perimeter As Shaw Wins 67-56

Niesha Searles drives to the basket against ECSU December 1. Searles had 18 points on the night. (Elizabeth City, NC) – Niesha Searles (left) led Shaw with 18 points, and the Lady Bear defense kept Elizabeth City beyond the three-point line as Shaw won 67-56.

Shaw (3-1, 3-1 in the CIAA) allowed Elizabeth City State (4-2, 1-2 in the CIAA) the three-point line, but took the lane, outscoring the Lady Vikings 36-16 in the paint. ECSU attempted 28 three-point shots, hitting only eight.

For much of the first half, it was a story of scoring bursts, and much of that dependent on the Lady Vikings three-point shooting and Shaw’s inside game.

The Lady Vikings jumped to an early lead relying on hot shooting from the three-point line. With less than four minutes gone in the half, ECSU held a 10-2 lead with six points from outside the arc.

With 13:09 left in the first, Shaquella Johnson hit a three, giving ECSU a 14-6 lead. It would be the last three-pointer the Lady Vikings hit in the first half. Shaw then found its inside game, scoring on four layups, and tying the game at 14 before the Lady Vikings scored another point.

The two teams battled for the next eight minutes, but with 3:58 left in the first half, Joyce Freeman hit a layup for the Lady Vikings – the last points they would score in the first half.

Tanisha McGaughey cuts through the defense on the way to Shaws 67-56 win over ECSU. McGaughey had 14 points on the night. A stifling Lady Bear zone defense and cold shooting from the Lady Vikings allowed Shaw to build a nine-point lead before the end of the first half.

The second half slowed significantly and neither team mounted the scoring streaks that had marked the first half.

ECSU pulled within three early in the second half, but never mounted another charge. With 2:39 left in the game, the lead was cut to five, but layups by Victoria Tanner and Johnson, as well as eight for eight shooting from the free throw line, gave Shaw the 67-56 final tally.

Searles led the Lady Bears with 18 points, becoming the third different leading scorer in four games for Shaw. Tanisha McGaughey (right) had 14 and Johnson ten for the Lady Bears. Johnson led Shaw with seven rebounds.

Kenyatta Gill, on the strength of four three pointers, led the Lady Vikings with 18 points. Freeman was the only other ECSU player in double figures with ten points, and she led the Lady Vikings with eight rebounds.

The Lady Bears travel to Charlotte Saturday, December 5 to take on Belmont Abbey at 2:00 p.m. Their next home game is Thursday, December 17 when they host Central State.

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December 1, 2009