Women's Basketball 12/7/2014 2:41:00 PM

Kalu Records Double-Double In Loss

Box Score

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Lady Tigers broke a five-game win streak on their home court Saturday with a 52-59 loss to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) rival Bethune-Cookman, despite redshirt senior Ezinne Kalu's first double-double of the season.

Savannah State falls to 4-2 on the season, and 0-1 in conference play. The Lady Wildcats improved to 2-5 and 1-0 in the MEAC.

Kalu led the Lady Tigers with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Tiyonda Davis followed Kalu with eight points and 11 rebounds.

Cookman got off to a rough start with three straight fouls in the opening, scoreless, two minutes. Kalu notched the first point of the game with a good free-throw at the 18:29 mark. Kalu then lifted SSU to a 3-0 lead a minute later with a good jumper.

In the following 10 minutes, teams traded points for points, tying the game five times. SSU newcomer Lauryn Fields hit back-to-back free-throws at the 6:16 mark to lift the Lady Tigers to a 17-16 lead.

Another SSU newcomer, Jada Young, followed up Fields free-throws with a layup for a 19-16 Lady Tiger lead with 5:16 to play in the opening half.

With 1:25 to play in the period, Kalu drained two from the charity strip to tie the game for the seventh time at 21 all.

Jasmine Knowles lifted Cookman to a 22-21 lead into the locker room with a good free-throw. SSU committed nine turnovers in the first half, and 11 personal fouls. The Lady Wildcats had 10 fouls and four turnovers.

Jasmine Norman opened the scoring in the second half with a good jump shot 30 seconds in to give the Lady Tigers a 23-22 lead. Cookman responded with a huge run.

Kayla Crawford drained a jump shot that opened an 11-0 scoring spurt for the visitors that included three unanswered 3-pointers from Terrenisha Hollis (1) and Kendra Cooper (2). Cookman went 5-for-14 from beyond the arch in the game.

The Lady Tigers broke the run on a good jump shot from Jasmine Norman, cutting Cookman's lead to 33-25 with 15:33 to play.

After a layup from Cookman's Kailyn Williams, SSU opened an 8-0 run capped by a good jump shot from Kalu that cut the visitors lead to 35-33.

Behind several costly turnovers from the Lady Tigers, Cookman expanded their lead with a 13-0 run for a 48-33 advantage. The Lady Wildcats kept SSU scoreless for a full five minutes.

Davis broke the Lady Tigers scoring drought with a layup at the 5:39 mark. But, the good basket from Davis did little to spark any offense from the Lady Tigers, as Cookman pushed out to their largest lead of the game, 51-35, with a 4-0 run.

In the final four minutes of play, the Lady Tigers began to etch away at Cookman's lead. Kalu drained two from the charity strip with 1:14 to play, cutting the visitor's lead to 53-45.

With 37 seconds to play, Emily Williams gave Cookman a double-digit lead once more, 57-46, with two good free-throws.

Kenyata Hendrix responded with a good 3-pointer, but Cookman added two more good free-throws for a 59-49 lead with 15 seconds to play.

SSU newcomer Deyja Brown scored the final points of the game with a good 3-pointer with 11 seconds on the clock.

Terrenisha Hollis led Cookman with 21 points. Crawford recorded 14, and Cooper added 10 for the Lady Wildcats.

The Lady Tigers return to action on December 14^th when they travel to Columbia, South Carolina to take on #1 South Carolina in a nonconference bout. The game will be aired live on the SEC Network, powered by ESPN Go.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Lauryn Fields: G; 5' 5"; Freshman

#2 Kenyata Hendrix: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#4 Jasmine Norman: G; 5' 9"; Senior

#12 Jada Young: F; 5' 10"; Freshman

#23 Ezinne Kalu: G; 5' 8"; Senior

#44 Tiyonda Davis: C; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#24 Deyja Brown: G; 5' 8"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#5 Lauryn Fields
: 5' 5"; Freshman
: G

#2 Kenyata Hendrix
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#4 Jasmine Norman
: 5' 9"; Senior
: G

#12 Jada Young
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: F

#23 Ezinne Kalu
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

#44 Tiyonda Davis
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: C

#24 Deyja Brown
: 5' 8"; Freshman
: G