Staff report

SALISBURY — Bowie State took control in the second quarter and the Bulldogs went on to defeat Livingstone, 74-62, in CIAA women’s basketball action here Wednesday at New Trent Gym.

The 17-9 second-quarter margin gave Bowie (12-3, 5-1 CIAA) a 32-22 halftime lead and Livingstone (5-10, 0-5) could never fully catch up.

The Blue Bears battled throughout the second half, but could get no closer than four points.

Down by as many as 14 points, Livingstone mounted a rally late in the final period, behind junior forward Kyala Searcy. A 3-pointer from Searcy with 3:48 left pulled Livingstone to 66-60, and then she made two free throws at the 3:04-mark to make it 66-62.

But that was it. During the rest of the game, the Blue Bears missed their final seven shots from the floor, five of which were 3-point attempts. Searcy had three of the misses while Taylor Perkins and Jade Porter had the others.

Meanwhile, Bowie made 5-of-9 free throws down the stretch to pull away for the final 12-point margin.

Kyah Proctor scored a game-high 24 points for the Bulldogs, seven coming in the fourth period. Sade Chatman followed with 17 points while teammates Kyaja Williams and Pere Alexander grabbed 13 and 12 rebounds, respectively.

Searcy led Livingstone with 22 points and eight rebounds, followed by Perkins and Nina Robinson, who tallied 10 points each.

Neither team shot well from the floor at 32 percent. Bowie made 26-of-80 shots while Livingstone was 20-of-61. The Bulldogs made just 2-of-18 from the 3-point arc, compared to 5-of-23 for the Blue Bears. Bowie sank 20-of-30 free throws, while Livingstone was 17-of-26.

The Blue Bears also hurt themselves with 24 turnovers, compared to 18 for Bowie, and were out-rebounded, 54-47.

Livingstone returns to action on Saturday with another home game, hosting Shaw at 2 p.m. The men’s game will follow at 4:00.

BOWIE STATE (74) — Colston 7, Proctor 24, Jing 5, Chatman 17, Christian 2, Williams 8, Baker 3, Kydd, Alexander 8.

LIVINGSTONE (62) — Green 8, Perkins 10, Searcy 22, Galay 6, Payne 2, Bradley, Robinson 10, Bland, Foote 4, Porter.

Bowie State      15    17    28   14 — 74

Livingstone      13     9    26    14 — 62