LINCOLN, Pa. - The Shaw University women's basketball team could not find their shooting touch as the Lady Bears fell to host Lincoln (PA) 62-59 Monday evening.

The loss drops Shaw to 10-6, 4-2 in the CIAA.  Lincoln improves to 8-7, 2-4 in conference action.

Shaw managed to hit only one-third of their shots on the night, including going one-for-ten from beyond the three-point line.  Lincoln didn't fare much better from the floor overall, hitting 35.9 percent of their shots, but they hit five of 19 from the three-point line.

Shaw held the decisive advantage on the boards, pulling in 56 rebounds to only 41 for the Lady Lions. 

Neither team found its shooting touch in the first, with Shaw managing 27.8 percent while the Lady Lions hit only 25.8 percent. 

Shaw took a very early 2-1 lead, but Lincoln scored eight straight to take a 9-2 lead.  Micah Brooks sank a three for the Lady Bears to stop the scoring drought and trim the Lady Lion lead to 9-5.  The three was the start of a 9-2 run for the Lady Bears that tied the score at 11 when Bryann Guyton sank a jumper with 10:19 left in the first.

Jailen Murphy hit a three for LUPA to give them back the lead.  Kamiya Burwell hit a layup to trim the Lincoln lead to one, but the Lady Lions scored six straight to extend their lead.  Mitchell hit a layup, trimming the Lincoln lead to five at 20-15.

The teams would battle evenly the rest of the half, with the Lady Lions holding a 26-22 lead at the half.

Both teams improved their shooting dramatically in the second half.  Lincoln hit 45.5 percent while the Lady Bears hit 40 percent.

Lincoln scored first to open the half, but Shaw battled back, eventually cutting the Lady Lion lead to three on a pair of free throws from Mitchell. 

The Lady Lions extended their lead to as many as seven when Dejah Taylor hit a layup with 17:12 to make the score 34-27.

The lead hovered around seven, eventually being stretched to ten with 10:28 in the second.  Shaw responded by scoring six straight to cut the lead to four on a Kaula Jacks driving layup. 

The two teams exchanged buckets for four minutes, until  Verdine Warner hit a layup to trim the Lincoln lead to only two. 

Lincoln ran off four straight points to extend the lead to 54-48 with 3:51 left in the game. 

Shaw scored the next six points, including an old-fashioned three-point play from Warner that tied the score at 54 with 2:16 left. 

The Lady Lions again ran off four straight points, but Shaw continued to keep the lead marginal.  With 45 seconds left, Diamond Mitchell hit a layup to cut the LUPA lead to two, then with five seconds left, and still down by two, Jacks was fouled and went to the line.  She sank only one to trim the Lincoln lead to 60-59.

Shaw fouled on the inbounds pass, and Courtney Smith sank both free throws with three seconds left in the contest.  Shaw got off one final shot, but it hit the rim and bounced away, handing Shaw the 62-59 loss.

Mitchell led the Lady Bears with 15 points, while Warner finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds for the double-double.  Brooks and Burwell led Shaw with four assists apiece.

Cynthia Johnson led the Lady Lions with 14 points, while Amani Clark had 13 and Smith had 11.  Courtney Lucas had ten rebounds and six assists to lead Lincoln.

Saturday, the Lady Bears close out their four-game road stretch as they travel to Livingstone.  Game time is 5:30.  The Lady Bears return home Wednesday, January 22 to host Winston-Salem State in a CIAA divisional matchup at 6:00 p.m. at Shaw's C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.