ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. -  Shaw University's women's basketball team held Elizabeth City State to only 44 points and less than 30 percent shooting on their way to a 56-44 win over the Lady Vikings at the R.L. Vaughn Center on the ECSU campus Saturday afternoon.

Elizabeth City State hit only eight buckets in the second half, and managed only 20 points.  The Lady Bears hit ten field goals, but added eight free throws to score 28 in the second half.

Neither team shot well, with ECSU managing to hit only 27.7 percent of their field goal attempts, while the Lady Bears hit 34.4 percent.  Shaw did not hit a single three-point shot, while the Lady Vikings hit two of the 17 they attempted.

Most of the first half was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team able to stretch a lead beyond three points.

With 9:13 left in the first half, ECSU's DaShera Boone hit a jumper in the lane to cut the Shaw lead to 11-10, but the Bears answered with a pair of free throws from Kayla Jack and a jumper in the lane from Ariel Hatcher to give Shaw the first five-point lead of the game at 15-10 with 7:23 left in the half.

The two teams exchanged buckets for 90 seconds, then Shaw went on a five-point run to take a seven-point lead on Diamond Mitchell's fastbreak layup that made the score 22-15 with 5:36 left in the half.

The Lady Vikings answered with four straight, cutting the lead to three when Boone got the ball in the lane on the fastbreak and hit the short jumper to cut the Shaw lead to 22-19.

With the Lady Bears Leading 24-19, ECSU scored five straight, punctuated by layup from Boone with a follow-on free throw that tied the contest at 24-24.

Shaw closed out the half on a four-point run, going into the locker room at the half with a 28-24 lead.

Brittany Henry and Micah Brooks each hit shots in the paint in the opening minutes to lengthen the Shaw lead to eight, 32-24.

In the ensuing three minutes, the Lady Vikings outscored the Lady Bears 8-2, trimming the Shaw lead to two, 34-32, on a fastbreak layup from Jasmine Boyd.

Shaw answered with a 9-2 run of their own, lengthening the lead to 43-34 on five straight free throws - four from Hatcher. 

Still trailing 45-36, ECSU ran off five straight points, putting them inside two scores, but the Lady Bears scored nine straight, building the lead to 13 on a Verdine Warner fastbreak jumper with 4:45 left in the contest. 

ECSU got a three from Boyd to put the Shaw lead at 54-44 with 4:23 left, but those would be the last points the Lady Vikings would score.  Shaw's Warner hit a layup with 3:52 on the clock to close out the scoring for Shaw, as well, giving them the 56-44 final.

Hatcher finished the game with 21 points - her second straight 21-point performance.  Hatcher also had 11 rebounds for a double-double.  Warner finished with ten points.  Diamond Mitchell and Jack had five assists apiece to lead Shaw.

Boone was the only Lady Viking to finish with double digits, finishing the game with 11.  Boyd had eight rebounds to lead ECSU, while Derricka Henry had five assists.

The Lady Bears return take a ten-day break before they travel to Belmont Abbey on November 26 for a 6:00 p.m. tipoff.  They do not return home until December 7 when they host Palm Beach Atlantic in the Shaw Invitational.