The Official Athletic Site of Miles College

Birmingham, AL -- They say that revenge is a dish best served cold.

It is quite possible that cold shooting was not what was intended by that phrase, but it is exactly what Miles (4-1) forced Livingstone into during the second half of its 71-62 win Wednesday night, avenging a 31-point loss to the Blue Bears almost three weeks ago.

Livingstone (3-2) shot just 29 percent from the field over the final 20 minutes and did not make a basket during the last five minutes of the game. Meanwhile, the Lady Golden Bears trailed just once all night and rode the hot shooting of Enria Samuals (game-high 27 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field) and a triple-double from Eboni McNeill (15 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) to win their fourth straight contest.

Trailing 9-8 four minutes into the game, Samuals drained two 3-pointers as part of a 10-0 run that put the Lady Golden Bears ahead for good. Two Ashley Steger free throws just inside the midway point of the half put Miles ahead 23-13 – the biggest lead of the night. Livingstone used a 10-1 run late in the first half to tie the game at 30 but a basket by McNeill and a free throw from Antesha Parks helped the home team to a 33-32 advantage at halftime.

Livingstone continued to challenge in the second half. But Miles usually had the answer for each run, with McNeill dropping dimes to Samuals and Alease Allen (12 points, six rebounds), scoring crucial buckets or grabbing big rebounds. She had six points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the second half alone.

Still, the Blue Bears erased an eight-point deficit and tied the game at 60 before the McNeill-Samuals-Allen triumvirate scored the next seven points while the Miles defense put the clamps on any final comeback attempt.

Tiffany Evans and Alexis Hicks each had 13 points to pace Livingstone. Tiffany Stephens had two points, two steals and a game-high 13 rebounds off the bench for Miles, which plays again on Friday against Georgia Regents at the Clark Atlanta Tournament. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.