Box Score
STARKVILLE, Miss. – It was a tale of two halves in Starkville, Mississippi for the Savannah State women's basketball squad Wednesday night. After trading the lead seven times with Mississippi State in the opening half, the Lady Tigers fell 55-70 to the Lady Bulldogs, after struggling in the second half.

Savannah State's Erin Hogue opened the scoring, hitting two free-throws for a 2-0 SSU lead. The Lady Bulldogs answered, tying the game seconds later. Hogue scored 18 points in the game, hitting 10-of-13 free-throw attempts.

Mississippi State opened an 8-0 run behind a layup from Martha Alwai for a 14-6 advantage after the game was tied at six. SSU's Blessing Uba dropped a jump shot to spark some offense for the Lady Tigers. Ezinne Kalu added a layup at the 11:07 mark to cap a 6-0 SSU run, and cut the home team's lead to two points, 14-12.

Kalu led the Lady Tigers with 20 points, going 7-for-13 from the field and 6-for-8 from the charity strip.

SSU guard Jasmine Norman tied the game up at 16 a couple of moments later with a layup. Mississippi State's Kendra Grant gave the home team a 17-16 lead on a good free-throw. Hogue answered with a jump shot for an 18-17 SSU lead with 8:24 to play in the opening half.

The Lady Tigers extended that lead to three points, 22-19, on a layup from Hogue with 6:48 showing. Mississippi State battled back, knotting the game up at 22 with 5:54 to play.

With 1:09 till the half, the game was tied at 29. The Lady Bulldogs broke the tie with a 6-0 run in the final minute, for a 35-29 lead at the half. The last minute momentum was enough to keep the Lady Bulldogs ahead as the home team would not give up their lead again.

Mississippi State opened the second half with a 7-0 run for a 42-29 advantage with 17:31 left to play. The Lady Tigers continued to battle as Hogue added two good free-throws at the 14:04 mark to cut the home teams lead to 44-35.

The Lady Bulldogs extended their lead to 13 points, 58-45, with 7:52 showing. In the waning minutes, Mississippi State jumped out to a 17 point lead, 68-51, behind several points from center Sherise Williams, who led the Lady Bulldogs with 26 points. Williams was 10-for-14 from the field.

Kalu added the final points of the game on a layup with 21 seconds on the clock, sealing up the 15 point loss for the Lady Tigers.

The Lady Tigers shot 36.7 percent from the floor and 67.0 percent from the free-throw line. Mississippi State shot at a 48.1 percent clip from the floor and 69.2 from the charity strip. SSU falls to 2-4 overall, while Mississippi State improves to 3-4.

Savannah State returns to action, Saturday, December 1, with their first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference match against Norfolk State. Tipoff in Tiger Arena is set for 4 p.m.