Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ELIZABETH CITY, NC- The Vikings women's basketball team went 2-0 this past weekend at Albany State, defeating Albany State and Clark Atlanta at the SIAC/CIAA Challenge.
 
GAME 1 vs. Albany State
 
Friday, the Vikings opened their season against the Golden Rams with a 60-50 victory. The Vikings were offensively pioneered by senior forward Naterria Luster (Richmond, VA), totaling 18 points, four steals, and a block. Both Luster and junior forward Sireann Pitts (Raleigh, NC) led the Vikings rebounding efforts with seven boards each. 
 
"I am proud of how hard we played, and I saw a lot of good things this weekend," said head coach Tynesha Lewis. "Anytime you get a win on the road, it's always a good thing.    We were down our returning leading scorer; winning speaks to our depth and willingness to guard."
 
Both teams played neck and neck statistically, but the Vikings were able to create a scoring gap after holding the Golden Rams to 2 of 16, shooting 12.6 percent in the second quarter. The Vikings were able to outscore Albany 16-9 in the second stanza taking a 29-23 lead into the half.
 
ECSU came out of halftime with a spark playing good basketball on both ends of the floor, with senior guard Felicia Jackson (Gainsville, FL) coming up with a steal to set up a three-pointer for senior guard Shamani Stafford (Cincinnati, OH), giving the Vikings a 32-23 edge. 
 
A series of buckets by Luster and Stafford down the third quarter stretch led ECSU to a double-digit lead over Albany 40-30 with 2:38 let in the third quarter. 
 
The Vikings would see their largest lead of the game during the final quarter up by 13-points with 8:41 left on the game clock, but Albany would not rollover. The Golden Rams cut the Viking lead to 5-points midway through the fourth quarter, letting ECSU know there was a lot of basketball left to play.
 
Despite Albany's run, the Lady Vikings maintained their composure and closed out the game on a 6-1 run to seal the victory 60-50.
 
GAME 2 vs. Clark Atlanta
 
A big performance again from forward Naterria Luster and the Vikings ability to score points off of the Panthers turnovers paved the road to the 61-54 road win.
 
Luster led the Vikings in scoring with 20 points, Stafford followed up with eleven points, and sophomore guard Aniyah Vanhook (Burlington, NC) rounded out the double-digit scoring for the Vikings with 10 points. 
 
"I feel like I played pretty well, but of course, there is always things that I can work on to be better," said Luster. "It just felt good being back on the court after two years. We played very well for our first two games back after not having a season last year. I noticed a lot of good things and a lot of things to improve on, but we're always excited about road wins."
 
The contest endured five ties and three lead changes.  The Clark Atlanta lead was snapped by a 9-0 ECSU run initiated at the free-throw line by Stafford going 2 -of-2 and ending at the charity line with senior forward Tirenique Broadwater (Rochester, NY) going 1-of-2 to tie the game at 50-all with 3:32 left in regulation. 
 
Clark Atlanta took advantage of the tie after an ECSU turnover, but the Vikings quickly reclaimed the lead outscoring CAU 7-2 to end the game, defeating Clark Atlanta 61-54.

The Vikings will be back in action for their home season-opener on Tuesday, November, 16th vs Chowan. The contest is set for 7:30 pm at the R.L Vaughan Center following the volleyball game.
 
Follow Elizabeth City State Athletics via its official website at www.ecsuvikings.com to get pre-and post-game stories and updates.
 
ECSU Athletics is also on social media, follow us on Twitter at @ECSUVikings and Instagram at @ecsusports