Box Score
Fantastic Freshmen Spark Fourth-Quarter Comeback For The Lady Falcons
ELIZABETH CITY, NC (Dec 15) – On Thursday, the freshmen trio of Kiana Clark (Queens, NY), Ja'Yon Leak (Charlotte, NC) and Kaaliya Williams (Richmond, VA) led a fourth-quarter rally to send the contest into overtime, but Saint Augustine's University lost 57-53 to Elizabeth City State University in its CIAA women's basketball opener at the Vaughan Center.
Clark buried three three-pointers for nine points, Leak scored five points and Williams contributed four points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Falcons outscored the Lady Vikings 18-13 to wipe out an eight-point deficit early in the quarter. Leak's three-point play with 29 seconds left in regulation tied the score at 45-45, and the Lady Vikings missed a jumper before the horn sounded.
In overtime, Leak scored six points as the Lady Falcons sliced a seven-point deficit to one point twice. The Lady Falcons closed the margin to 54-53 on two Williams free throws with 1:22 left in the extra period but the Lady Vikings buried a three-pointer with 1:13 remaining which turned out to be the final points in the contest.
Williams finished with 18 points and seven rebounds for the Lady Falcons, who shot 47.4 percent in the second half and 50 percent in overtime. Clark scored 16 points on 5 of 6 three-point shooting and Leak tallied 15 points. Jalyn Brown scored 22 points and Jazmine Nixon pulled down 11 rebounds for the Lady Vikings (2-0 CIAA, 4-5 overall), who won the rebounding battle 33-27 including a 13-5 edge on the offensive boards.
Williams scored the team's first seven points as the Lady Falcons raced to a 12-4 lead in the first quarter. The Lady Falcons led 12-7 entering the second quarter but they cooled off and went into halftime behind 24-17. Williams scored nine points and Clark added four points in the first half.
The Lady Vikings opened a nine-point lead early in the third quarter, but the Lady Falcons chipped it to 32-27 entering the fourth quarter. The Lady Falcons made their final run after the Lady Vikings pushed their lead to 35-27 with a little less than 10 minutes remaining in regulation.
The Lady Falcons will head to Murfreesboro, N.C. to take on Chowan University in the third of four games in six days. The contest will begin at 2 p.m.
