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Savannah State University Athletics

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Women's Basketball

Kirkland Leads Women’s Basketball Past Delaware State; Baker earns 300th win.

Box Score

DOVER, Del. – Savannah State senior Jasmine Kirkland broke her career-high scoring record for the third time this year, leading the Lady Tigers past Delaware State in a 77-71 victory with 24 points.

Kirkland went 9-for-17 from the field and 6-for-8 from the charity strip for her double digits. She set a new career and season-high record on Monday, breaking a 23-point outing set earlier this season against Coppin State.

The Lady Tigers improved to 14-10 overall and 7-3 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). Head Coach Cedric Baker, in his 11th year at Savannah State and in his 21st year as a coach, earned his 300th colligate coaching win.

Baker has registered some of the SSU women's basketball program's biggest wins over his 11 years, including wins against East Carolina (Conference USA), Louisiana-Lafayette (Sun Belt), Georgia Southern (Southern Conference), Tennessee State (OVC), Mercer (Atlantic Sun), Howard (MEAC), and Troy (Sun Belt), and Texas San Antonio (Conference USA).

Baker's 2007-08 team set a program Division Record with 14 wins. The 2006-07 team earned a spot on the Division I most improved list, compiled by the NCAA. He is the winningest Division I coach in the program's history with a current record of 106-205.

In Monday's contest, Jasmine Norman and Ezinne Kalu joined Kirkland in double-digits. Norman raked in 15 points, while Kalu tacked on 10. Kirkland, Norman and Tiyonda Davis each had six rebounds to lead the team.

At the 15:30 mark of the first half, Kenyata Hendrix drained a 3-pointer, and moments later Kirkland added a jumper to lift SSU to an 11-6 advantage.

Five minutes later, Delaware State tied the game behind a trey from N'Kayah Kersey. In the subsequent eight minutes, SSU went on a 15-3 run, going up 36-23 on a jump shot from Kirkland with 3:22 to play in the opening half.

SSU maintained the double-digit lead through the rest of the half. Two good free-throws from Kirkland sent the Lady Tigers to the locker room with a 40-29 advantage.

Monday's win was the 12th game this season in which the Lady Tigers have scored more than 70 points in a single outing.
Early in the second period, Delaware State bounced back, cutting SSU's lead to 46-44 with a layup from Deanna Harmon at the 13:08 mark.

SSU regained a double-digit lead midway through the second half behind a 13-5 run, capped by two good free-throws from Kalu for a 59-49 lead.

The Lady Hornets, however, bounced back into the game with a 10-3 run. DSU scored all ten points in the run from the free-throw line. They shot 74.4 percent (29-for-39) from the charity strip on the evening.

With 1:41 to play, DSU's Raven Bankston sank a layup to cut SSU's lead to 68-66. The Lady Tigers responded with a 7-0 run in the following minute for a 74-68 lead with 28 seconds showing.

Bankston drained two good free-throws and hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds, but Kirkland, Kalu and Norman all scored points to abate the late run from the Lady Hornets, and seal up the victory.

Harmon led the Lady Hornets with 24 points, while Bankston added 22 of her own. DSU shot 46.3 percent from the field.

The Lady Tigers shot 49.2 percent from the field and outrebounded DSU 37-25. SSU scored 44 points from the paint and 17 off of turnovers.

The Lady Tigers return home this weekend. They face North Carolina A&T State on Saturday in Tiger Arena. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.



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