COLUMBIA, S.C. – Despite a strong opening quarter, the Savannah State women's basketball dropped a Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) game to Benedict College, 57-72 on Feb. 17.
 
The Lady Tigers fall to 13-7 overall and 8-7 in the SIAC. They move to third place in the SIAC East Division standings with the loss. They trail Fort Valley State (9-6) who they host on Saturday in Tiger Arena, and Benedict College (13-2).
 
Savannah State outscored Benedict 18-15 to open the game, but in the second quarter, the Lady Tigers' scoring dropped completely off as Benedict put up 14 points to SSU's two. At the half, the home team lead 29-20.
 
The Lady Tigers came out swinging in the third quarter. Ta'Kyla Austin drained a 3-pointer and Le'Andrea Gillis made two good free-throws to cut Benedict's lead to 29-25. Benedict responded with an 11-2 run to take a 40-27 lead with 3:46 to play in the quarter.
 
Benedict held onto the double-digit distance through the fourth quarter, going up by as much as 18 points. Gillis led the Lady Tigers with 19 points on the night followed by Austin (14) and Robbi Allen (12).
 
Gillis leads the Lady Tigers and the SIAC this year, averaging 19.4 points a game. Savannah State still has the top scoring offense in the conference, averaging 76.7 points a game.
 
The Lady Tigers have two more regular season games this season. They face Clark Atlanta on Thursday, Feb. 20, in Tiger Arena. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. Savannah State closes out the regular season on Feb. 22 in Tiger Arena against Fort Valley State. Tip-off for the Orange Out is set for 1 p.m.