Box Score
SAVANNAH, Ga. – In their final nonconference game of the 2012-13 campaign, the Savannah State women's basketball squad downed visitors Trinity Baptist 66-41, Monday evening in Tiger Arena.

The Lady Tigers open a 14-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference stretch this Saturday with a visit to Baltimore, Maryland in matchup with Coppin State.  

Leading SSU was senior Erin Hogue, who returned to action after missing the previous game with a concussion. Hogue recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. She leads the team in rebounds with 113 and is third in scoring with 145 points (10.4 avg).

The Lady Tigers Andrietta Thomas was close to a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. Jasmine Norman and true freshman Jerryshia Williams added eight points apiece.

In the opening minutes, SSU took a 5-3 lead behind a good free-throw from Charmaine Greene. The Eagles tied the match a couple of minutes later on a good free-throw from Nicole Collins.

Collins led all scorers with 32 points and 14 rebounds, hitting 10-of-25 attempts from the field, and 10-of-13 attempts from the charity strip.

The Lady Tigers regained the lead and jumped out to a 14-6 advantage with an 8-0 run in the following five minutes. With 4:38 to play in the first half, Norman drained a layup for a 23-10 SSU lead. Thomas dropped a short jumper with 47 seconds to play for SSU's largest lead, 27-12, of the first half.

Trinity Baptist's Anashia Hughes finished off a last second layup for a 27-14 score into the locker room. The Lady Tigers shot at a 40 percent clip from the field in the opening twenty, while Trinity Baptist shot 15.4 percent.

Collins opened the second half scoring with a layup, but Norman answered for the Lady Tigers with a fast break layup after a steal by Jazmin Thomas.

Shawanda Hanton sank a jump shot with 16:14 to play, to give the home team a 35-22 advantage. Trinity Baptist countered with a 5-0 run to cut the Lady Tigers lead to 35-28.
Leading 39-30 with 10:39 to play, Amber Chambers sparked a 6-0 run for the Lady Tigers with a good jumper, and closed the run with a layup for a 45-30 SSU advantage.

Trinity Baptist was unable to get SSU's lead under double-digits for the remaining 10 minutes as the Lady Tigers continued to etch out a victory. With only seconds to play, Hogue sank a layup for SSU's largest lead of the night, 66-39. Kaneesha Ellick scored the final points of the game with 2 seconds showing, setting the final score.

The Lady Tigers shot 44.6 percent from the floor, and 50 percent from the free-throw line. SSU outrebounded the Eagles 51-41. Trinity Baptist ended the game shooting at a 22 percent clip from the floor.
 
NOTABLES:
This is the first meeting of Trinity Baptist and Savannah State women's basketball. The Trinity Baptist men's basketball has played SSU men's basketball on several occasions.
 
Ezinne Kalu remains the Lady Tigers top scorer, despite missing the last three games. She has 161 points (13.4 avg). Andrietta Thomas follows Kalu with 152 points (10.1 avg).
 
SSU starting point guard, Ezinne Kalu, suffered a knee injury in the Dec. 20 game against Florida. Kalu is expected to miss several games. Junior guard Jasmine Kirkland suffered a concussion in the Dec. 16 game against Jacksonville, and remains sidelined.
 
Paige Johnson was added to the roster after the team suffered several injuries. Johnson played for the Lady Tigers last year. Her mother, Julie Johnson, is a former assistant coach for the Lady Tigers, serving under current head coach Cedric Baker for three years.