FORT VALLEY, Ga. –  After a rough start to an unprecedented season, the Savannah State women's basketball team have started to groove, picking up their first win of the young season on Feb. 17 with a 77-71 road victory over Fort Valley State.
 
Four Lady Tigers ended in double digits on the night. Junior transfer Bria Gibbs led the entire field with 16 points and 18 rebounds. Close behind, sophomore Amari Heard put up 15 points and grabbed 11 boards. Le'Andrea Gillis had a strong outing for the Lady Tigers as well, putting up 14 points on the night. Ta'Kyla Austin added 13 of her own and Azhana Maxwell put away nine in the win.
 
Savannah State came out of the gate strong, putting up a 26-18 lead in the opening period. But the Wildcats responded with a strong second period scoring 26 to the Lady Tigers 15 for a 44-41 lead at halftime.
 
Coming out of the locker room, Savannah State poured on the offensive gas with a 13-1 run capped by two good free-throws from freshman Nyla Allen at the 4:46 mark. The Lady Tigers worked a zone press successfully for most third period, keeping the Lady Wildcats to only eight.
 
Savannah State continued their command of the game through the first half of the fourth period, taking their largest lead, 73-59, at the 3:18 mark behind a good free-throw from Heard. But the home team did not go quietly.
 
Diamond Jones drained a three-pointer with around three minutes to play and the home team put on a press to open an 8-2 run for the Lady Wildcats, cutting Savannah State's lead to 76-67 with 1:03 to play. Jones drained two free-throws with 33 seconds to play, Austin added a good free-throw for Savannah State 14 seconds later, and Lady Wildcat Torri Myers added a layup for the final score.
 
Nikki Culbreath led the Lady Wildcats with 16 points on the night, followed by Jones (15), Kyla McIntosh (12) and Myers who put up 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the home team.
 
The Lady Tigers won the rebound game 50-43 and shot 41.3% from the field and 54.5% from beyond the arc, dropping several key long-balls. They scored 40 of their points in the paint though, solidifying Head Coach Cedric Baker's effort to strengthen post play this season.
 
Savannah State returns to the court this weekend with back-to-back home games against Albany State. They face the Lady Golden Rams on Friday at 6 p.m. and then again on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Tiger Arena.
 
Both games will be streamed live at ssuathletics.com/watch.
 
 
ABOUT SAVANNAH STATE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Women's basketball was the first and only women's sport at Savannah State for many years. The first team, the 1928-29 squad, opened the program's history with a 5-3 overall record and won the city championship. The storied program has won championships on the Division I and II levels and in three different conferences.