Women's Basketball 1/12/2015 10:22:00 PM

Lady Tigers Cruise Past N.C. Central

Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – The Savannah State women's basketball team picked up the program's first back-to-back Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) road wins with an 82-61 rout of North Carolina Central on Monday night.

SSU opened a four-game road swing with a 59-56 win over North Carolina A&T State on Saturday. Behind the wins, the Lady Tigers improve to 7-8 overall and 2-1 in the MEAC. They move into a tie for third place with Maryland Eastern Shore in the conference standings.

The Lady Tigers opened Monday's game in Durham with a balanced scoring attack and 10-0 run in the first four minutes to take a lead they would never relinquish.

The Lady Eagles got on the board with a 3-pointer from Morgan Jones with 15:43 on the game clock, but SSU answered with a layup from Tiyonda Davis and a 3-pointer from MEAC Preseason Player of the Year Ezinne Kalu for a double-digit lead once again.

N.C. Central - coming off a two-point overtime win over South Carolina State on Saturday – found some room to score midway through the half. Jones cut SSU's lead to 18-9 with a good jumper at the 11:57 mark.

SSU fired back with a 13-0 run over the following six minutes for a 31-9 lead at the 6:40 mark. The Lady Tigers' lead would never dip under double-digits the rest of the game.

The Lady Tigers concluded the first half shooting 59.3 percent from the field, hitting 16-of-27 shots, and shot 50 percent from deep, hitting 3-of-6 3-point attempts. They led 40-18 into the locker room with 18 points coming from in the paint, and 16 off turnovers.

After playing with a short bench against the Lady Aggies – who were picked to win the MEAC in a preseason poll – 12^th year head coach Cedric Baker opened his bench up in the second half against NCCU.

The Lady Tigers bench scored 22 of their 42 second half points, with 11 players ending with points on the board.

With 9:01 on the clock in the second period, Tanease Richardson drained a layup to lift SSU to a 32-point advantage at 65-33, their largest lead of the night.

Undeterred by SSU's massive lead, the scrappy Lady Eagles began to make a late run. Racquel Davis went to work in the paint for NCCU, cutting into SSU's lead with a 7-0 run of her own. With 3:57 to play, SSU lead 67-51.

Kalu responded with six points, and freshman Shanikwa Buie added two to lift the Lady Tigers back to a 20-plus point lead in the final minutes.

Kalu finished with double-digits for the 13^th time this season, leading the field with 23 points. She tied her season high assists record with six.

Joining Kalu in double-digits was new point guard Kenyata Hendrix who drained 3-of-7 3-point attempts, ending with 13 points. Jasmine Norman added 11 and Davis tacked on 10 points in the win. SSU is 4-0 on the season when four or more players end in double-figures.

SSU's bench also made some waves in the game. Jazmin Thomas and Richardson each had six points in the win. Thomas tied her season-high.

The Lady Tigers shot 53.6 percent from the field as a team, hitting 30 of their 56 shots. This is only the second game in which they've shot more than 50 percent from the floor; they won both of those games.

R. Davis led NCCU with 19 points. She went 6-for-10 from the floor and 7-for-9 from the charity strip. Jones also ended in double-digits, scoring 13. NCCU falls to 3-13 on the season and 1-3 in the MEAC.

SSU continues the road swing with a visit to Maryland Eastern Shore on Jan. 17, and Delaware State on Jan. 19. They return home to face five-time defending MEAC champions Hampton on Jan. 24.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

#13 Jazmin Thomas: G; 5' 8"; Senior

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

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

#14 Tanease Richardson: F; 6' 0"; Freshman

#15 Shanikwa Buie: F; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

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

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

#13 Jazmin Thomas
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

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

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

#14 Tanease Richardson
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: F

#15 Shanikwa Buie
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: F