Women's Basketball 3/6/2014 9:09:00 PM

Women’s Basketball Closes Out Historic Season With 60-51 Win Over S.C. State

Box Score

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The 2013-14 Savannah State Lady Tigers have sealed up their place in history.

Thursday evening in Tiger Arena, the Lady Tigers beat South Carolina State 60-51 in their final game of the 2013-14 regular season.

SSU closes out the historic season with a 17-13 record and a 10-6 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) record. Both marks are the best in the program's Division I era and in three years of competition within the MEAC.

Along with the winning record, SSU went 10-2 in Tiger Arena, the program's best home record in the Division I era (since 2002-03).

The Lady Tigers travel to Norfolk, Virginia for the 2014 MEAC Championship Tournament March 10-15 in Scopes Arena. Unofficially, SSU will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament. Official seeding will be release this weekend.

Two of SSU's five seniors this year led the charge on Thursday. Arguably the best women's basketball player in the program's Division I era, Ezinne Kalu led the field with 17 points, followed by senior guard Jasmine Kirkland with 14. Freshman Kenyata Hendrix joined the two seniors in double-digits with 11 points.

Kalu closes out four years with 1,559 career points. She is the only women's basketball player to eclipse 1,000 and 1,500 points in the Division I era.

A back-and-forth opening half landed the game tied up at 18 with 5:36 till the half. The Lady Tigers opened a 6-1 run for a 24-19 lead with 3:29 to play.

After a scoreless three minutes, the Lady Bulldogs put up five quick points. With 8 seconds to play, Cabriel Duren sank a short jumper to tie the game for the fourth time, at 24 all.

The score would hold into the locker room.

Duren led the Lady Bulldogs with 17 points on the night, followed by Kourtney Williams with 12 points.

Five minutes into the second half, SSU freshman Tiyonda Davis lifted the Lady Tigers to a 38-30 lead with a layup. The SSU lead would hold for the rest of the half.

Down the stretch, Kirkland and Norman put SSU up 57-48 with layups. Kalu drained three free-throws in the closing minute for the final 9-point spread.

SSU improved their field shooting percentage in the second half to 46.7 percent from 40.7 percent in the first half.

S.C. State shot 38.2 percent from the field. SSU outscored the Lady Bulldogs 36-27 in the second half, and outrebounded them 38-33.

SSU head coach Cedric Baker, in his 11^th year at Savannah State, was honored in pregame ceremonies for eclipsing 300 career wins as well as 100 Division I and SSU wins this season. Twice now, Baker has set the best program's best Division I record. This year's 17-13 mark beats the 2010-11 teams 15-11 record.

For more information included updated brackets for the 2014 MEAC Championship visit www.meachoops.com.

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