RALEIGH, N.C. — The Shaw University Lady Bears dominated in the second half as they opened CIAA South Division play with a 101-68 victory over Livingstone on Saturday afternoon in a game played at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.

The Lady Bears, ranked No. 16 in Division II, outscored the Lady Blue Bears 49-27 in the second half as they won their sixth straight game to improve to 14-2 and 6-1 in the CIAA. Livingstone drops to 6-10 overall and 2-5 in the CIAA.

"We came out in the second half and shut them down," said Shaw associate head coach Carl Hatchell. "We started producing some baskets as a result of our defense, which was nice. And we scored early to help us get a nice lead."

After going 5-1 against the Northern Division, the Lady Bears are now 1-0 in the Southern Division. Hatchell says that wins within the division are very valuable because they count for so much more when it comes to seeding for the postseason.

"It's very important to get off to a good start because these are the ones that really count," said Hatchell. "Wins or losses against the other division don't count as much as the ones in your own. We know that we have a tough road ahead of us, so we want to try and get some consistency within our offense and our defense."

The Lady Bears shot 35-of-66 from the floor in the game for a 53.0 percent rate. They forced the Lady Blue Bears to commit 31 turnovers, which Shaw turned into 47 points.

Livingstone shot 27-of-65 from the floor for 41.5 percent. After hitting six three-pointers in the first half, the Lady Blue Bears hit just one in the second as they finished 7-of-21 from beyond-the-arc for 41.5 percent.

Shaw was led by Crystal Harris with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Ronika Ransford added 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Taylor Dalrymple and Kearah Jeffreys each contributed 14 points in the victory.

Coming into the game, Livingstone ranked third in the CIAA in rebounding, averaging 43.6 per game.  Livingstone is ranked behind conference leaders Shaw and Lincoln (Pa.). The Lady Bears held Livingstone five rebounds below their average as they won the battle-of-the-boards 42-38. Dalrymple pulled down a game-high eight boards in the win.  Harris and Sequoyah Griffin each had five rebounds apiece.

"We knew coming in that they were one of the best rebounding teams in the conference, so we made it a point to not let them come in and run their stuff," said Hatchell. "We came out with different traps, different presses and different defenses to try and get them out of a rhythm. In the second half, we locked in on our man-to-man defense. That really shut them down and helped us get going, too."

The first half was a series of scoring runs by both teams. The Lady Bears opened the game on a 21-8 run in the first six minutes of the contest. The Lady Bears built their 13-point lead thanks to a layup from Dalrymple at the 13:54 mark of the period.

Dalrymple scored five points in a row as the Lady Bears extended their lead to 26-10 with 12:49 remaining in the frame.  The 16-point lead was the largest lead of the half for the Lady Bears.

Livingstone responded with a 14-4 run over the next five minutes. A three-pointer by Kelcyn Manurs brought the Lady Blue Bears within six at 30-24 with 7:42 left. 

The Lady Blue Bears continued their run, limiting Shaw to just four points over the next two minutes. With 5:31 remaining in the opening half, Jasmine Murray successfully converted a three-point play to bring her squad within three at 34-31.

Both teams traded buckets in the latter stages of the first half. After Harris went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe, Dalrymple hit a layup at the 4:58 mark to put Shaw back in front by six at 37-31. Ransford put the Lady Bears up eight with two free throws at the 4:47 mark.

A layup by Livingstone's Cierra York brought the Lady Blue Bears within six at 39-33. Shaw's Crystal Wilson received a bounce pass from Ransford on the right wing as she buried the three-pointer to put the Lady Bears up by nine.  After a Livingstone turnover, Dalrymple found Harris under the basket as she knocked down a jumper to put the Lady Bears up 44-33 with 3:17 remaining in the first half.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Livingstone brought the Lady Blue Bears back within five. Murray buried a three-pointer from the left wing to cut Shaw's lead back to eight at 44-36. After a missed shot by the Lady Bears, York buried a three-pointer to make it 44-39 with 2:34 remaining in the first half. 

The Lady Bears went on a late run of their own, answering with an 8-2 run to close out the first half. With 16 seconds left, Wilson delivered a cross-court pass to Ransford, who converted a layup to give Shaw a 52-41 lead at halftime.

In the first half, the Lady Bears were 62.5 percent from the floor on 20-of-32 shooting. They were also 3-of-5 from three-point range, for a 60 percent rate. The Lady Blue Bears shot 16-of-35 from the floor for 45.7 percent and they were 6-of-11 from three-point territory for a 54.5 percent rate.

Shaw's scoring run carried over into the second half as they opened on a 12-2 burst in the first six minutes of the period. A layup by Harris put the Lady Bears up 64-43 with 15:24 remaining in the game.

Over the next seven minutes, the Lady Bears continued their dominance on defense as it led to another scoring outburst. The Lady Bears forced Livingstone to eight turnovers and they capitalized by going on a 25-11 run to build an 89-54 lead, capped off by a three-pointer by Ransford with 8:56 remaining in the contest.

After a bucket by Livingstone's Jasmine Murray, the Lady Bears went on a late 9-2 run. Ransford gave the Lady Bears a 98-58 lead after driving to the basket and converting a layup with 5:31 remaining. The 40-point lead was the largest of the contest for the Lady Bears.

The Lady Blue Bears went on a late spurt of their own, going on an 11-1 run to get within 31 at 99-68 with 1:04 remaining. Shaw finally broke the century mark when Kennay Fleming buried a free throw with 56 seconds remaining to make it 100-68. Two seconds later, Wilson sank another free throw for the final point of the contest for the Lady Bears.

The Lady Bears were 25-of-37 from the free throw line for 67.6 percent. Livingstone was 7-of-9 from the charity stripe for 77.8 percent.

Livingstone was led by Murray's 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting. York also added 13 in the loss.

The Lady Bears will return to action on Monday night when they host Virginia Union at C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium in the final game of their five-game home stand. Although Virginia Union is a member of the CIAA, Monday's contest will be classified as a nonconference match-up between the two teams. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

article by Ryan Sarda