SAVANNAH, Ga. - Junior center Tiyonda Davis led the Savannah State University women's basketball team with 12 points, nine rebounds and tied a career-high seven blocks as the Lady Tigers (4-10, 1-2 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) won their first MEAC game of the season with a 57-39 win over North Carolina Central University in Tiger Arena Monday night.

Davis shot 6-for-7 from the field and with the nine rebounds, the Athens, Ga., native moved into third place in school history in the Division I era with 571 career rebounds and needs 37 rebounds to move into second place.

Junior guard Chelsea Frazier added 10 points, while junior guard Taylor-Ashley Shaw added eight points and four rebounds, junior forward Jeremica Edwards added five points and seven rebounds and sophomore forward Tanease Richardson added five rebounds.

Junior guard Kenyata Hendrix added six points and three rebounds. Her six points moves her into ninth place in school history in the Division I era with 679 career points and needs 34 points to move into eight place. The Carrollton, Ga., native's three made field goals moved her into the top-10 with 241 career made field goals.

NCCU scored seven of the first 11 points of the game to take a three-point lead, 7-4, with 5:05 remaining in the first quarter. With the margin still at three, 9-6, the Lady Tigers scored eight of the next 10 points to take a three-point lead, 14-11, after a quarter of play. Edwards and Davis led the team with four points, while Davis added two blocked shots during the opening quarter.

The Lady Tigers opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to increase their lead to 10, 21-11, with 4:41 remaining in the second quarter. The Lady Eagles made a free throw to give them their first point in 7:36 stretching back to the first quarter and made their first basket in 8:15 after a jumper by Kristin Askew to cut SSU's lead to 10, 24-14, with 3:51 remaining. NCCU scored the next five points to cut the lead to five, 24-19, at the 2:16 mark, but the Lady Tigers scored the final four points of the quarter to take a nine-point lead, 28-19, heading into the locker room. Frazier led SSU with eight points, while Davis added six points, three blocks and two steals through the first half.

The Lady Tigers scored six of the first eight points to start the third quarter to push its lead to 13, 34-21, with 4:33 remaining in the third quarter and after a made NCCU free throw to cut the lead to 12, 34-22, the Lady Tigers finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to lead by 18, 40-22, after three quarters. Davis and sophomore forward Jada Young led SSU with four points, while Richardson led SSU with four rebounds during the third quarter.

The Lady Eagles opened the final quarter on a 5-2 run to cut the lead to 15, 42-27, but the Lady Tigers scored the next four points to push their lead to 19, 46-27, with 7:00 remaining in the game. NCCU scored 10 of the next 16 points to cut the lead to 15, 52-37, at the 2:56 mark, but the Lady Tigers scored the next five points to push their lead to 20, 57-37, with 23 seconds left. A Lady Eagle layup with seven second cut the lead to the final margin of 18 points.

The Lady Eagles were led by Morgan Jones with 11 points, Kristin Askew with 10 points, while Tyshay Britten led the team with nine rebounds and Tisha Dixon added seven rebounds and seven points.

The Lady Tigers continue their five-game homestand against Maryland Eastern Shore (3-12, 1-2 MEAC) Saturday at 4 p.m. in Tiger Arena.

Newspaper Box Score
N.C. Central vs Savannah State
01/11/16 6 p.m. at Savannah, Ga. (Tiger Arena)
At Savannah, Ga. (Tiger Arena)
SAVANNAH STATE 57, N.C. CENTRAL 39
N.C. CENTRAL (2-12, 1-3 MEAC)
JONES,Morgan 4-12 0-0 11; ASKEW,Kristin 3-7 3-6 10; DIXON,Tisha 3-7 1-4 7;
ADAMS,Dominique 1-6 1-2 3; JACKSON,Maya 1-2 0-0 2; MCCAIN,Deja 1-2 0-0 2;
BRITTEN,Tyshay 1-3 0-0 2; WHALEY-BRIGGS,Moniqu 1-6 0-0 2; MORTON,Kierona 0-0
0-0 0; THOMAS,Chantal 0-0 0-0 0; MARTIN,Rodneysha 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-46
5-12 39.
SAVANNAH STATE (4-10, 1-2 MEAC)
DAVIS,Tiyonda 6-7 0-0 12; FRAZIER, Chelsea 4-10 0-1 10; SHAW,Taylor-Ashley
1-2 6-6 8; YOUNG,Jada 3-5 0-0 6; HENDRIX,Kenyata 3-13 0-2 6;
EDWARDS,Jeremica 2-5 1-2 5; WARREN,Rhianna 2-5 0-0 4; RICHARDSON,Tanease 1-3
0-0 2; FIELDS,Lauryn 1-7 0-0 2; NIXON,Kilah 1-5 0-0 2; BUSH,Destini 0-1 0-0
0. Totals 24-63 7-11 57.
N.C. Central.................. 11 8 3 17 - 39
Savannah State................ 14 14 12 17 - 57
3-point goals--N.C. Central 4-8 (JONES,Morgan 3-5; ASKEW,Kristin 1-2;
WHALEY-BRIGGS,Moniqu 0-1), Savannah State 2-15 (FRAZIER, Chelsea 2-5;
HENDRIX,Kenyata 0-6; WARREN,Rhianna 0-2; FIELDS,Lauryn 0-2). Fouled
out--N.C. Central-None, Savannah State-None. Rebounds--N.C. Central 36
(BRITTEN,Tyshay 9), Savannah State 40 (DAVIS,Tiyonda 9). Assists--N.C.
Central 8 (JONES,Morgan 2; WHALEY-BRIGGS,Moniqu 2), Savannah State 15
(FIELDS,Lauryn 4). Total fouls--N.C. Central 11, Savannah State 14.
Technical fouls--N.C. Central-None, Savannah State-None. A-844

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