JUAN MCCALL PHOTO GALLERY | After tying her career high of 29 points on January 4, Virginia Union University's Shareka McNeill set a new personal scoring record by scoring 33 points to lead VUU to a 77-38 win over Johnson C. Smith University on Monday, January 7, at Barco-Stevens Hall in Richmond, Va.

McNeill hit 12 of 23 shots, including five three-pointers, to enable the Lady Panthers to pull away from the Golden Bulls after leading by just seven at halftime (31-24).

"I thought our second-half defense was outstanding," VUU Head Coach AnnMarie Gilbert said.  "Shareka really got it going for us offensively with 17 first-half points and 33 for the game.  Ifunanya Okoye and Christina Deng have become a solid young front court for our team.  Okoye's double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds) was huge.  The leadership of Rejoice Spivey to garner 14 points, 10 assists and nine steals really shows what she is capable of.  If we can continue to build on the defensive effort we had tonight, we have a chance to be real successful in the remainder of CIAA play."

VUU held Johnson C. Smith to just 14 points in the second half, and scored 36 points off turnovers.  

The win raised VUU's record to 11-1 on the season and 2-1 in CIAA play.  Johnson C. Smith fell to 4-9 overall and 1-2 in the CIAA.

Virginia Union now travels to Raleigh, N.C., to face Shaw University at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 10.