SAVANNAH, Ga.- Jalea Gray scored a career-high 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to power Savannah State to a 53-35 win over visiting Morgan State in Tiger Arena.
 
Gray, who scored 14 of her points in the second half, mad 8 of 11 shots from the field.
 
The win broke a five game SSU losing streak. On January 7, Morgan State trounced the Lady Tigers 63-47 in Baltimore, Maryland.
 
Both teams got off to slow starts, scoring nine points apiece in the opening quarter.
 
SSU (6-13, 4-6 MEAC) trailed 9-5 with 1:46 left but layups by Jacquece Alston and Gray knotted the score at nine each.
 
In the second quarter, Morgan State took a 15-10 lead with 6:20 remaining but the Lady Tigers finished the quarter with a 11-4 run and went into halftime with a 21-19 edge.
 
Savannah State the first six points of the third quarter as Gray and Alexxus Sowell made layups and Myasia Jones added a pair of free throws for a 27-19 lead.
 
MSU got within five with just over three minutes left but Gray scored six points during a 8-2 spurt to end the quarter and give the home team a 37-26 advantage.
 
A jumper by Alston to start the final quarter put SSU ahead by 13 but Morgan State would not go away as they trimmed their deficit down to eight with 4:34 left.
 
Savannah State held the Bears scoreless the rest of the game as they scored 10 unanswered points.
 
Jones added 12 points and six rebounds for Savannah State while Sowell chipped in 10 rebounds, six points and five blocks.
 
SSU made 50 percent of their shots from the floor in the second half and finished the game shooting 42.6 percent.  Savannah State also had more rebounds (42 to 32).
 
Morgan State (8-17, 6-5 MEAC) was led by Jihayah Chavis' 13 points.
 
The Bears shot 26.4 percent from the field, 11.1 percent from beyond the arc and 50 percent from the free throw line.