ELIZABETH CITY, NC- The Lady Vikings defeated the Bears of Shaw University 54-45 Saturday.
 
The Vikings improve to 2-3 overall on the season.
 
The Bears are 1-2 on the season.
 
"I was very pleased with coming out with a victory today," shared Head Coach Antonio O. Davis. "For the most part we executed well, did not finish the ball game the way I would've liked. However, I was proud of the ladies effort."
 
Sophomore guard Asia Deal (Norfolk, VA) led the charge for the Vikings offensively with 19 points and added three steals. Freshman guard Monica Dixon (Beaufort, NC) followed up with 10 points.
 
Senior forward Sirenna Pitts (Raleigh, NC) four steals and senior Devona Stell (Atlanta, GA) eight rebounds fueled the Vikings defensive efforts.
 
The Bears were offensively and defensively led by Diamonoique Kennedy with 16 points and six rebounds.
 
Shaw opened up the game with an 8-0 run to put the Vikings down early. 
 
The Vikings struggled finding their game until midway through the quarter, while the Bears saw their largest lead of the game up by 13 points (16-3). 
 
A layup from forward Kamille Pickens (Jacksonville, FL) and back to back three-pointers from Deal to end the first quarter on a 6-0 run gave the Vikings momentum.
 
ECSU dominated the second quarter from start to finish holding the Bears to only two points from a pair of trips to the line to outscore Shaw 14-2 claiming a 25-18 lead at the half.
 
The Vikings put together a 20-point effort in the third quarter holding Shaw to half of that. Dixon matched Shaw's points in the quarter scoring five points in a 35 second window to end the quarter with ten. 
 
ECSU saw their largest lead of the game up by 20 points with over eight minutes left to play, but Shaw did not back down. The Bears were able to cut the lead to single digits with an 11-0 run. 
 
Despite the Bears efforts, they would not be able to battle their way back from the Vikings second and third quarter stun.
 
The Vikings will be back in action on Tuesday in the R.L. Vaughan Center to take on the Broncos of Fayetteville State University at 5:30 p.m. Come out and get your serving of Vikings Hoops before Turkey Day.