(SALISBURY, NORTH CAROLINA –)  Bowie State junior Crystal Johnson nailed a 3-pointer with one second left in the game to lift the Lady Bulldogs to a dramatic 70-68 road win over Livingstone College.  The loss drops the Lady Bears to 6-9 overall (3-5 in the CIAA).  Bowie State improves to 10-5 on the season and 6-3 in the CIAA.

            So far this season whenever Bowie State leads at the half and scores 70 points or more, the Lady Bulldogs have been unbeaten.  Livingstone closed the first half with a 12-2 run but BSU held a 34-32 halftime advantage and led by as much as 12 points (32-20) late in the first 20 minutes.

            Bowie State led the first 9:10 of the second half before a pair of free throws by Livingstone’s Clintoria Bryant gave the Lady Bears their first lead of the night at 48-47.  A layup by BSU’s Bethany Sloat shifted the advantage back to the visitors but it was short lived.  Bryant hit a 3-pointer on Livingstone’s next possession, which seemed to inspire the Lady Blue Bears.  Livingstone extended its lead to nine points (60-51) at the 5:19 mark but the Lady Bulldogs battled back to square the game at 64-64 on a Markeya Watson layup with 1:11 remaining in the game.  Livingstone regained the lead on a Kimone John’s layup but BSU sophomore Tracy Cole nailed her sixth 3-point field goal of the game, giving the Lady Bulldogs the lead at 67-66 with 31 ticks left on the Trent Gymnasium clock.  Livingstone’s Chelsea Johnson knocked down two free throws with 11 seconds remaining to give the lead back to the Lady Bears at 68-67, setting up the dramatic finish by Bowie State. 

            Bowie State was led on offense by Swailes’ game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds, her eighth double-double of the season.  Cole scored a season-high 20 points and fellow sophomore Markeya Watson added 16 points to go along with nine rebounds for the Lady Bulldogs.

            Lamika Davis paced the Livingstone with a team-high 15 points.  Bryant and Johns chipped in 14 points each for the Lady Blue Bears and Lina Brown added 10 points.

            Both teams were pretty even in terms of shooting percentage from the floor.  Livingstone hit 23-of-55 field goal attempts (41.8 percent) and Bowie State made 23-of-56 from the field (41.1 percent).  The major statistical difference was in the rebound category.  BSU outrebounded Livingstone 44 to 26.  In fact, the Lady Bulldogs had more defensive rebounds (27) than the Lady Bears had total rebounds.

            The Lady Bulldogs return to action – Tuesday (1/23) when they host Virginia Union University’s Lady Panthers. Tip-off time is set for 5:30 p.m. in Bowie State’s A.C. Jordan Arena.