SALISBURY, N.C. - Bowie State University women's basketball won its fifth game in a row on Wednesday evening, downing Livingstone College by a final count of 74-62 and improved their record to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play.
 
Bulldogs senior Kyah Proctor (Capital Heights, Md.) led all scorers with 24 points while teammate Sade Chatman added 17 points in the win. Redshirt junior Pere Alexander (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore Kyaja Williams (Baltimore, Md.) recorded eight points each and senior Kiara Colston chipped in seven points for Bowie State. Williams and Alexander ripped down 13 and 12 rebounds respectively.
 
Bowie State held a slim 15-13 after one quarter of action and carried a 32-21 advantage into halftime.
 
The Livingstone Blue Bears led most of the first quarter until a Colston layup with 10 seconds left that gave Bowie State all the lead they needed.
 
Bowie State outscored Livingstone 9-3 over the first five minutes of the second quarter and reached a double-digit lead of 28-18 following a Chatman jumper in the paint. Both team went cold over the next three minutes with Livingstone's Kayla Searcy ending the drought with a jumper with 1:15 left in the first half.
 
The Bulldogs turned it up in the third quarter, leading by a game-high 15 points (54-39) at the 3:25 mark which allowed Bowie State a 60-48 cushion after three quarters.
 
Livingstone (5-10 / 0-5 CIAA) mounted a rally late in the final period, behind the play of Searcy. A 3-pointer with 3:48 left pulled Livingstone within six (66-60), and at the 3:04 mark Searcy knocked down a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 66-62, but would get no closer.
 
Searcy led three Livingstone players in double figures with 22 points while Asia Green and Nina Robinson tallied 10 points apiece in the loss. Searcy was also the Blue Bears' top rebounder with eight to go along with a game-high four assists.
 
Livingstone shot 32.8 percent (20-of-61) from the field and 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from the three-point line while making 17-of-26 (65.4 percent) shots from the free throw line.
 
Bowie State ended the game shooting 32.5 percent from the field (26-of-80). The 80 attempts was a season-high for the Bulldogs. Bowie State made 20-of-30 free throws (66.7 percent) and tied its season-high in rebounds with 54.
 
The Bulldogs travel to Lincoln (Pa.) University this Saturday (January 13) for the CIAA Norther Division opener for both teams. Game time in the Manuel Rivero Hall is set for 2 p.m.