SAVANNAH, Ga. – With the score tied at 55, junior guard Kenyata Hendrix drove to the basket and picked up the foul to send her to line with three seconds.  Hendrix nailed both of the free throws and Coppin State's final shot bounced off the rim to give the Savannah State University women's basketball team (7-15, 4-7 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) a 57-55 win over Coppin State University (7-13, 4-5 MEAC) in Tiger Arena Monday night.
 
Junior guard Rhianna Warren recorded a career-high 19 points to lead all scorers on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-6 shooting from the 3-point line and with a career-high eight rebounds, while Hendrix added 17 points and six rebounds with three assists and two blocks. The four made 3-pointers by Hendrix gives her 127 career made 3-pointers, which moves her into second place.
 
Junior center Tiyonda Davis added 10 points on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor and six rebounds with three assists, while junior forward Caprisha Treadwell added six rebounds.
 
The Lady Tigers scored the six of the first nine points to begin the game to take a three-point lead, 6-3, with 6:01 remaining in the first quarter.  Two CSU's free throws cut the lead to a point, 6-5, with 5:45 remaining, but the Lady Tigers scored the next four points to take a five-point lead, 10-5, at the 3:55 mark.
 
The Lady Eagles scored six of the next eight points to cut the lead to a point, 12-11, with 1:59 left, but a jump by junior forward Jeremica Edwards with 56 second remaining, gave SSU a three-point lead, 14-11, after one quarter.  Davis led SSU with six points on 3-for-5 shooting, while Warren added four points in the opening quarter.
 
A Warren jumper pushed the lead back to five points, 16-11, with 9:51 remaining in the second quarter.  As both teams scored four points to keep the lead at five, 20-15, with 4:50 remaining, but the Lady Eagles scored the next four points to cut SSU's lead to a point, 20-19, with 3:51 left.  After a junior guard Taylor-Ashley Shaw's layup to increase the lead to 3, 22-19, at the 3:20 mark, CSU cut the lead to a point, 22-21, with 3:03 after two made free throws. 
 
A Hendrix 3-pointer increased the lead to four points, 25-21, but CSU responded with a 3-point to cut it back to a point.  A Warren jumper with 16 second left, gave SSU a three-point lead, 27-24, going into halftime. Warren led SSU with 10 points, while Davis added eight points through the first half.
 
The Lady Eagles scored the first three points of the third quarter to tie the game at 27 with 8:40 remaining in the quarter, but a Hendrix 3-pointer gave SSU a three-point lead, 30-27, at the 5:31 mark. It was the first basket for the Lady Tigers in the third quarter.  Two made CSU free throws cut the lead to a point, 30-29, but the Lady Tigers scored nine of the next 10 points to increase their lead to nine points, 39-30, at the 1:04 mark. 
 
CSU scored the next four points to cut the lead to five, 39-34, until Warren's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave SSU a 42-34, lead after three quarters.  Hendrix led SSU with six points and added three rebounds during the third quarter.
 
The Lady Eagles scored the first 11 points of the final quarter to take a three-point lead, 45-42, with 5:34 remaining in the quarter, but a Hendrix 3-pointer tied the game at 45 at the 4:41 mark to record the first basket of the quarter for SSU.  Warren followed up with a 3-pointer to give SSU the lead back by three points, 48-45 at the 4:01 mark.
 
An Edwards made free throw increased SSU's lead to four points, 49-45, with 3:07 left and increased to seven points, 52-45, after a 3-pointer by Warren at the 2:11 mark.  A CSU layup snap a scoreless streak of 3:41 to cut the Lady Tigers lead to five, 52-47, at the 1:19 mark.  The Lady Eagles scored the next six points to cut the lead to a point, 52-51, with 30 second remaining, but a Hendrix made free throw increase the lead to two points, 53-51, with 19 seconds left.
 
A made CSU layup with 11 seconds tied the score at 53, but a CSU foul sent Hendrix to the line and drained both of them to give SSU a two-point win.
 
The Lady Eagles were led by Keena Samuels with 13 points and added eight rebounds, while Genesis Lucas added 11 points, Janelle Lane added 10 points and four rebounds and Omaah Tayong added eight points and nine rebounds.
 
The Lady Tigers travel to Orangeburg, S.C., to face South Carolina State on Saturday at 2 p.m. to start a two-game roadstand.
 
Newspaper Box Score
Coppin State vs Savannah State
02/08/16 6 p.m. at Savannah, Ga. (Tiger Arena)
At Savannah, Ga. (Tiger Arena)
SAVANNAH STATE 57, COPPIN STATE 55
COPPIN STATE (7-14, 4-5 MEAC)
SAMUELS,Keena 5-15 3-5 13; LUCAS,Genesis 3-7 5-6 11; LANE,Janelle 2-5 6-7
10; TAYONG,Omaah 2-5 4-8 8; GRIFFIN,Amber 4-10 0-0 8; HENDERSON,Tanaysa 2-7
0-0 5; NEAL,Vanessa 0-0 0-0 0; SWAILS,Jordan 0-1 0-2 0; HARRIS,Bria 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 18-50 18-28 55.
SAVANNAH STATE (7-15, 4-7 MEAC)
WARREN,Rhianna 8-12 0-0 19; HENDRIX,Kenyata 5-20 3-4 17; DAVIS,Tiyonda 5-8
0-2 10; YOUNG,Jada 2-3 0-0 4; EDWARDS,Jeremica 1-4 1-2 3; FIELDS,Lauryn 1-8
0-0 2; SHAW,Taylor-Ashley 1-4 0-0 2; RICHARDSON,Tanease 0-0 0-0 0;
BROWN,Deyja 0-2 0-0 0; TREADWELL,Caprisha 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-63 4-8 57.
Coppin State..................   11   17   10   17  -   55
Savannah State................   14   13   15   15  -   57
3-point goals--Coppin State 1-5 (HENDERSON,Tanaysa 1-3; GRIFFIN,Amber 0-1;
SWAILS,Jordan 0-1), Savannah State 7-22 (HENDRIX,Kenyata 4-14;
WARREN,Rhianna 3-6; FIELDS,Lauryn 0-2). Fouled out--Coppin State-None,
Savannah State-None. Rebounds--Coppin State 38 (TAYONG,Omaah 9), Savannah
State 39 (WARREN,Rhianna 8). Assists--Coppin State 9 (SAMUELS,Keena 3;
GRIFFIN,Amber 3), Savannah State 18 (FIELDS,Lauryn 5). Total fouls--Coppin
State 18, Savannah State 16. Technical fouls--Coppin State-None, Savannah
State-None. A-640
 
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