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Savannah State University Athletics

Women's Basketball

Women’s Basketball Program Garners First Win Over Howard

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Lady Tigers pushed away in the final six minutes of a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) against Howard University in Washington, D.C. on Monday, eventually beating the Lady Bison for the first time, 65-49.

Savannah State improves their season record to 9-8 and goes 2-1 in MEAC play. Howard falls to 6-10 overall and 2-1 in the conference. This was the third meeting of the teams since SSU joined the MEAC in the 2011-12 season.

The Lady Tigers were led down the stretch by senior's Jasmine Kirkland and Ezinne Kalu, who combined for 13 points in the final six minutes. Kalu led the field with 20 points, while Kirkland finished with 13. Freshman Tiyonda Davis joined the seniors in double-digits with 10 points and led the team in rebounds with nine.

Jasmine Norman and Kenyata Hendrix each had stellar outings as well. Norman, who leads in the team in free-throw percentage (.727), went 7-for-9 from the charity strip, ending with seven points. Hendrix added nine points in the win.

Howard was led by Victoria Gonzalez who scored 15 points. Jasmine Hill tacked on 12, going 2-for-4 from beyond the arch.

A low scoring, fast paced, first half landed the home team with a 25-21 lead with less than thirty seconds to play. Kalu cut that lead to one point with a 3-pointer at the 8 second mark to send Howard to the locker room with a 25-24 advantage.

Monday's win is the first time this season the Lady Tigers have won after trailing at the half.  

Howard maintained a lead for much of the second half. Kirkland tied the game for the fifth time with 6:50 to play. A minute later, Kirkland lifted SSU to a 46-44 advantage with a layup in the paint, giving the Lady Tigers a lead they would not relinquish.

SSU then opened a 13-1 run, capped by two good free-throws from Kalu at the 1:38 mark to give the Lady Tigers a 57-45 lead.

In the last minute of the game, Kalu hit two good free-throws and Norman drained four straight offerings from the charity strip to give SSU the final 16-point spread.

The Lady Tigers scored 38 points in the paint and outrebounded the Lady Bison 44-34. SSU shot 39.6 percent from the field and 67.7 percent from the free-throw line. After committing a season-high 32 personal fouls in their last outing, SSU reduced that number to only 16 and sent the Lady Bison to the free line only eight times.

SSU returns to action next Saturday with a MEAC home game against Bethune-Cookman. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. in Tiger Arena. Tickets can be purchased here: TICKETS



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