SAVANNAH, Ga. – Savannah State University women's basketball team (2-14, 1-3 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) trailed by as much as 16 points in the third quarter, but battled back to defeat Florida A&M University (3-14, 1-4 MEAC) 56-52 Saturday in Tiger Arena.
 
Savannah State trailed by 16 with 6:04 remaining in the third quarter, but the Lady Tigers went on an 18-2 run at the end of the third quarter and the beginning of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 43 and scored 10 of the final 15 points for the four point win. 
 
Graduate student Lauren "Gaby" Moss, who missed the two previous games, led the Lady Tigers with 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the floor and added three rebounds, three assists and three steals, while senior guard Kenyata Hendrix added 15 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
Senior forward Jeremica Edwards and junior guard Lauryn Fields each added six points, while Edwards led the team with 10 rebounds.  Senior center Tiyonda Davis led the team with six blocks and added six rebounds and two points.
 
An Edwards layup got SSU on the board first to take a 2-0 lead with 9:34 remaining in the first quarter, but Florida A&M scored the next five points to take a 5-2 lead with 6:07 left.  The Lady Tigers scored eight of the next 11 points to take a two-point lead, 10-8, with 3:30 remaining, but FAMU scored the next five points to take a three-point lead, 13-10, with 1:32 left.  A three-pointer by FAMU gave the Rattlers a four-point lead after the first quarter.
 
The Lady Tigers opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run to take a point lead, 17-16, with 8:51 remaining in the quarter, but FAMU responded with a 9-0 run to take an eight-point lead, 25-17, with 6:45 left in the first half.  The Rattlers scored five of the next seven points to increase their lead to 11 points, 30-19, with 4:32 left.  SSU outscored FAMU 6-5 during the rest of the quarter to cut the halftime deficit to 10 points, 35-25.
 
Florida A&M scored the first six points of the third quarter to take a game-high 16-point lead, 41-25, with 6:04 remaining in the quarter, but Savannah State scored 15 of the final 17 points to cut the lead to three points, 43-40, after three quarters.
 
A three-pointer by Moss tied the game at 43 with 8:51 remaining in the fourth quarter, but FAMU scored four of the next seven points to take a point lead, 47-46, with 7:00 remaining in the game.  The Lady Tigers scored 10 of the final 15 points to win by four points.
 
The Rattlers were led by Cedricka Sweeting with 12 points and five assists, while Shakerrya Morrison led the way with a game-high 14 rebounds and Florence Ouattara added nine points. 
 
The Lady Tigers travel to Orangeburg, S.C., to face South Carolina State Monday at 5:30 p.m. before returning home to face Morgan State Saturday, Jan. 21 at 4 p.m. in Tiger Arena.
 
Newspaper Box Score
Florida A&M vs Savannah State
01/14/17 4 p.m. at Savannah, Ga. (Tiger Arena)
At Savannah, Ga. (Tiger Arena)
SAVANNAH STATE 56, FLORIDA A&M 52
FLORIDA A&M (3-14, 1-4 MEAC)
SWEETING,Cedricka 5-11 0-0 12; OUATTARA,Florence 3-7 0-0 9; KING,Dawn 3-6
0-0 8; BURNEY-ROBINSON,Shal 2-4 1-2 5; MORRISON,Shakerrya 1-7 3-4 5;
McCRAY,Alicia 2-5 0-0 4; SMITH,Jamella 0-2 3-4 3; BURKS,Kennedy 1-4 0-0 2;
NGUYEN,Victoria 1-2 0-0 2; ROYAL,Dy'Manee 1-4 0-0 2; WHITLOW,DeAnn 0-0 0-0
0; YURDAKUL,Ecenur 0-5 0-0 0; HASKINS,Kalybriah 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-59 7-10
52.
SAVANNAH STATE (3-13, 1-3 MEAC)
MOSS,Lauren 7-14 0-0 16; HENDRIX,Kenyata 3-10 8-10 15; FIELDS,Lauryn 3-3 0-0
6; EDWARDS,Jeremica 3-13 0-0 6; WARREN,Rhianna 2-6 0-0 5; TREADWELL,Caprisha
1-2 0-0 2; DAVIS,Tiyonda 1-6 0-4 2; SHAW,Taylor-Ashley 1-2 0-0 2;
BROWN,Deyja 1-6 0-0 2; GRAHAM,Charmia 0-0 0-0 0; GREEN,Kierstan 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 22-62 8-14 56.
Florida A&M...................   16   19    8    9  -   52
Savannah State................   12   13   15   16  -   56
3-point goals--Florida A&M 7-18 (OUATTARA,Florence 3-4; KING,Dawn 2-5;
SWEETING,Cedricka 2-5; BURKS,Kennedy 0-2; YURDAKUL,Ecenur 0-2), Savannah
State 4-16 (MOSS,Lauren 2-6; WARREN,Rhianna 1-4; HENDRIX,Kenyata 1-5;
BROWN,Deyja 0-1). Fouled out--Florida A&M-None, Savannah State-None.
Rebounds--Florida A&M 49 (MORRISON,Shakerrya 14), Savannah State 33
(EDWARDS,Jeremica 10). Assists--Florida A&M 10 (SWEETING,Cedricka 5),
Savannah State 11 (MOSS,Lauren 3; HENDRIX,Kenyata 3; WARREN,Rhianna 3).
Total fouls--Florida A&M 10, Savannah State 12. Technical fouls--Florida
A&M-None, Savannah State-None. A-890
 
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