Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Pollock rescues Lincoln against Virginia Union
Locked in a battle for the CIAA Northern Division regular season crown, the last thing the Lincoln women’s basketball squad needed was a home setback to a struggling division foe.
The possibility actually existed on Thursday until Kania Pollock – the lone senior on the roster – put the Lions’ on her back and helped close out a too-close-for-comfort 72-64 decision over Virginia Union at Rivero Hall.
“(Pollock) was big for us coming down the stretch,” said LU head coach Janice Washington. “Sometimes I’m watching her and I don’t know what is going to happen. But I’m willing to live with it because the majority of the time it is a good outcome.”
It halted a two-game losing skid, and at 10-3 (16-8 overall), Lincoln remains all alone in first place in the division with three games to go until the postseason tournament. The Lions also improve to 9-1 on their home court.
“We just can’t lose this game at home,” Washington confirmed. “We’re not just talking about the division title on the line but seeding for the conference tournament.”
Lincoln led most of the way, but was clinging to a one-point lead with 2:11 on the clock when Pollack took over. The guard connected on a key jump shot, with the shot clock winding down, that began a 9-2 surge to the finish.
“I’m always willing to take the shot, but it feels good that coach trusts me,” Pollock said. “I’m not saying I felt like I needed to do something, but if the shot clock is at five seconds and the ball is in my hand, I have to do something.
“At the end of the day, I am going to do what my coach and my team needs me to do.”
About a minute later, Pollock did it again, this time nailing a 3-pointer to make it 68-62 with a minute to go. Teammate Anyssa Fields then wrapped it up by knocking down 4-4 from the line.
“We did what we had to do,”
said Pollock, who scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half to lead the way.
“This win was really big, especially coming off two losses. Coach (Washington) is never satisfied, and that helps us. It pushes us to do more.”
The Lions are looking to successfully defend its CIAA Northern title from a year ago, but the 16-player 2022-23 roster includes 12 freshmen or sophomores. Up next is a road trip to Shaw (N.C.) this weekend.
“I keep telling my team that the most important game is the next one,” Washington said. “Shaw is a very good defensive team and we are pretty good offensively, so something has to give.”
The Lions limited VU to 25 percent shooting in the first quarter and eventually opened a 15-point lead. But due largely to going 14-14 from the free throw line, the Panthers staged an 18-5 rally and sliced the margin to 31-29 at the half.
Thanks to a mini-push at the end of the third, Lincoln got a little breathing room, 53-47, heading into the final period, to setup the finish. The Panthers fall to 4-9, 12-12.
“This was a really big win,” Washington said. “Virginia Union’s record is a little bit deceiving. They’ve lost a lot of really close games. When we played them down there in January, it came down to the last seconds.”
Lincoln 72, Virginia Union 64 VIRGINIA UNION: Langley 5-11 5-5 15; Shepherd 1-3 0-0 2; Rene 0-2 0-0 0; Martin 0-3 0-0 0; Johnson 3-10 2-2 10; Bevans 1-3 2-4 4; Alston 8-13 23 18; Gist 1-1 0-0 2; Blackwell 0-4 4-4 4; Cody 2-3 5-5 9. Totals 21-53 20-23 64. LINCOLN: Triplett 3-7 2-4 8; Fields 2-12 4-4 9; Lanier 5-14 1-2 14; Pollock 5-15 5-7 16; Montgomery 3-10 3-3 9; Atkinson 2-22-4 6; Madison Walker 0-1 1-4 1; Brown 3-5 0-0 6; Willis 1-1 1-2 3; Walker 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-68 19-30 72. Virginia Union 6 23 18 17 -- 64 Lincoln 12 19 22 19 -- 72 Three-pointers: Johnson 2, Fields, Lanier 3, Pollock.
Indiana 87, Iowa 78
BLOOMINGTON, IND. >> Grace Berger finished with a season-high 26 points, nine rebounds and six assists and Mackenzie Holmes added 24 points for Indiana.
The Hoosiers (23-1, 12-1 Big Ten) used a 17-7 fourth-quarter run to earn their 11th consecutive win, this time in front of a record crowd of 13,046. Indiana has broken the attendance mark three times since January and now has a 1 ½-game lead in the chase for its first regular-season conference crown since the Big Ten’s inaugural season of 1982-83.
Maryland 79, Northwestern 54
EVANSTON, ILL. >> Diamond Miller scored 18 points and Maryland beat struggling Northwestern.
Brir McDaniel added 14 points and the Terrapins (20-5, 12-3 Big Ten) followed up the program’s most lopsided win over a top 10 opponent with another dominant performance.