Last night opening tip-off game featured the #8 Livingstone College Lady Blue Bears (9-19) and the #9 Virginia Union University Lady Panthers (9-17). The game was a battle from beginning to end as each team fought to keep their season alive. However, it was the Lady Panthers who had the final say as they edged Livingstone with a final score of 61-60.
VUU jumped out to an 18-7 lead over Livingstone twelve minutes into the game but the Lady Blue Bears got an offensive spark from Brittany Wright who came in off the bench to net 12 first half points.
Junior forward Tonaye Smith finished the half with 8 points going two for three in field goals and four for six at the charitly strip.
The second half began the same way the first half did with the Lady Panthers going on a 13-1 run over seven minutes of play. The run was led by Tonaye Smith who scored eight straight points to spread the lead 44-29 with just under ten minutes to play in the game.
Despite the battle that the Lady Blue Bears put up tonight, VUU was able to protect their lead over the final two minutes of the game to take the 61-60 win and advance to the next round.
VUU, Tonaye Smith scored game/season-high 30 points and pulled down 15 rebounds. Joining her is Dashia Chandler who chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.
The Lady Panthers improve to 9-17 overall while Livingstone finishes up at 9-18 on the season. Va. Union will play the #1 seed Bowie State University (17-10) at 3:00pm.