ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (Jan. 26, 2019) – Elizabeth City State rode opportunistic defense to a 72-59 CIAA win over Virginia State in the Vikings' first appearance in 22 days in the Robert L. Vaughan Center.
 
Junior forward Naterria Luster rang up her 10^th double-double of the season with 19 points and a team-high 10 rebounds to share game scoring honors with freshman guard Asia Deal who added five assists.
 
Senior guard Jalyn Brown totaled 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals as the Vikings (13-8, CIAA 5-5, North Div. 2-1) shot a solid 51.7% (30-58) with an offense fueled by transition buckets and strong rebounding.
 
Junior forwards Devona Stell (eight points and seven rebounds) and Markeia Porter (five points and nine rebounds) helped ECSU dominate in the paint.
 
Senior forward Chrisanna Green paced the Trojans (8-11, CIAA 2-8) with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three assists as Virginia State knocked down 11 of 32 shots from 3-point range to stay in the contest.  Sophomore guard Autumn Hopson netted 12 points for the Trojans while junior guard Yazmen Hannah added eight points and seven rebounds.
 
After limiting Virginia State to just eight first quarter points, the Vikings pushed their lead to 34-19 with 2:37 left in the half on a jumper by Stell.
 
ECSU would equal that 15-point bulge with an 8-0 run off four points apiece by Luster and Deal which upped an 8-point Viking margin to 71-56 with 2:05 remaining.
 
It was Craig Sager Cancer Awareness Day in the Vaughan Center.
 
The Vikings host Virginia Union in a CIAA doubleheader on Wednesday in the Vaughan Center.  The women's game tips off at 5:30 p.m. with the men's game following at 7:30.