Box Score
CHARLOTTE, NC – The Livingstone women’s basketball team struggled shooting the ball Saturday evening as they fell 79-52 to the Johnson C. Smith Golden Bulls in the regular-season finale.
Freshman guard Kelcyn Manurs tied a career-high in points with 17. Junior forward Brittany Wright scored 13 points and came up one rebound short of a double-double.
Livingstone and Johnson C. Smith both shot very well to start the first half. The Golden Bulls took an early 10-6 lead, but the Blue Bears fought back to take their first lead of the game at 13-12. Cassaundra Rhodes had eight of the Blue Bears’ first 13 points.
The Blue Bears trailed by only one at 18-17 with 10:30 left in the first half before the Golden Bulls went on an 11-3 run to open up a 29-20 lead with 6:51 on the clock. Livingstone cut the deficit to six with 3:25 left at 29-23, but they amassed only three more points before halftime and trailed 37-26 at the half.
Cassaundra Rhodes and Brittany Wright each scored eight points in the opening half while Kelcyn Manurs added six. Overall the Blue Bears struggled from the field, hitting only 28.1 percent of their shots from the field in the first half. Johnson C. Smith dominated play in the paint 14-6.
Livingstone came out in the second half and grabbed the first two points of the half, but Johnson C. Smith responded with a 15-0 run to grab a 24-point lead at 52-28. Despite the large deficit, the Blue Bears still had some fight in them, they proceeded to go on their own 8-0 run and looked poised to get back in the game, but the Golden Bulls put a stop to the Blue Bear run.
The Blue Bears were unable to make another run at the Golden Bulls and despite cutting into the deficit late thanks to good defense, the Blue Bears fell 79-52.
The Blue Bears finished the regular season with a 10-17 overall record, a 6-14 conference mark and a 4-6 divisional record. Johnson C. Smith finished 18-9 overall, 11-9 in the CIAA and 5-5 in the division.
The Livingstone women will now play on the first day of the CIAA Tournament which is Tuesday at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC. The Blue Bears’ opponent and game time will be announced Sunday. Be sure to check www.bluebearathletics.com on Sunday for tournament game information.