ORANGEBURG, S.C.- Savannah State led 20-9 at the half but South Carolina State opened the second half with a 15-4 rally to tie the game and then went on to defeat SSU 37-33 at the SMH Memorial Center.

Trailing by 11 points at intermission, South Carolina State rallied to tie the game at 24 with 13:23 left.

SSU trailed 27-26 but two free throws by Ezinne Kalu gave the Lady Tigers a 28-27 lead with 10:17 remaining.

The Bulldogs' Joi Walker made a layup with 8:35 left and a 29-28 lead and SCSU never trailed again.

A 3-pointer by Darice Fountaine pulled SSU within 35-33 with 11 seconds left but Whitney Wiley made two free throws with six seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Fountaine led SSU (1-2) with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals while Alisha Nelson had 10 rebounds.

Wiley led SCSU (1-1) with 11 points.

Savannah State scored the first 5 points of the game and led 11-1 with 11:27 left in the first half.

SCSU did not make their first field goal until Tracey Flowers made a layup at the 10:18 mark. Flowers' basket cut SSU's lead to 11-5 but Fountaine answered with a 3-pointer followed by two free throws to make the score 16-5 with 6:59 on the clock.

The Bulldogs got within 7 but a layup by Nelson and a jumper by Fountiane gave SSU a 20-9 advantage with 2:14 on the clock.

SSU made 29 turnovers and were out-rebounded 35 to 29.