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Savannah State University Athletics

1
50
Albany St. (GA) ASU 0-6,0-0 SIAC
85
Winner Savannah St. SSU 2-1,0-0 SIAC
Albany St. (GA) ASU
0-6,0-0 SIAC
50
Final
85
Savannah St. SSU
2-1,0-0 SIAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Albany St. (GA) ASU 12 7 16 15 50
Savannah St. SSU 18 27 18 22 85
36
Albany St. (GA) ASU 0-7,0-0 SIAC
74
Winner Savannah St. SSU 3-1,0-0 SIAC
Albany St. (GA) ASU
0-7,0-0 SIAC
36
Final
74
Savannah St. SSU
3-1,0-0 SIAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Albany St. (GA) ASU 6 10 11 9 36
Savannah St. SSU 21 19 19 15 74

Game Recap: Women's Basketball |

Lady Tigers Cruise Past Albany State, Twice



SAVANNAH, Ga. – Following a dribble drabble start and stop to an unprecedented basketball season, the Savannah State women's basketball program shifted into another gear on Friday and Saturday, stomping Albany State in back-to-back blowout wins in Tiger Arena.
 
During the off-season, the Lady Tigers deepened their bench after the team struggled in the 2019-20 season with an injury-plagued short bench. They are two-deep at every position now and three-deep at point guard, a major factor in the young season.
 
Head Coach Cedric Baker, in his 17th year at Savannah State, tooled with different starting lineups throughout the two-game weekend, testing various looks with a lot of success, but also making sure to manage his starter's playing time in order to keep everyone healthy during the back-to-back games followed by another game on Monday.
 
On Friday, the Lady Tigers opened with a nominal first period against Albany State, going up 18-12. But in the second quarter, they opened the field wide with a 27-7 scoring advantage for a massive 35-19 lead at the half. The lopsided offensive tilt continued relentlessly through the rest of the first game and was echoed in Saturday's rematch.
 
Savannah State outscored Albany State in the two games, 159-86, beating them 85-50 on Friday and 74-36 on Saturday. But as Coach Baker said in a post-game press conference on Saturday, Savannah State basketball is all about defense.
 
"Defense is a staple of our program here at Savannah State University," Baker said. "Offensive has never been an Achilles Heal for us. I think as we continue to get better defensively, we'll continue to put a more exciting offensive team on the floor for our fans to enjoy."
 
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The Lady Tigers had a combined 33 steals in both games, as Albany State turned the ball over 30 times in Friday's game and 23 times in Saturday's matinee. Savannah State's various defensive looks, shifting from a loose zone to man coverage, diamond press to full-court press, jarred the Golden Rams, splintering their offensive game plan.
 
"We have true post players that can play with their back to the basket, give us a calmness as a coaching staff and we have balanced shooting on the parameter," Baker said, breaking down the elements of his team's success.
 
Both games also highlighted the Lady Tigers' offensive weapons.
 
NCAA Division I transfer Bria Gibbs is proving to be an incredible asset to the program. She recorded her third double-double of the season on Friday with 17 points and 14 rebounds. On Saturday, Gibbs put up 13 points and grabbed 8 boards. After four games, Gibbs is shooting 60% from the field and leads the team in scoring (14.3 pts/game) and rebounding (10.8 rbs/game).
 
"Coming here (to Savannah State) I knew what I wanted to do," Gibbs said in a post-game press conference.  "I wanted to average a double-double. I know how hard I've worked to get here and I want to prove it every night."
 
Right behind her is another major offensive weapon, Le'Andrea Gillis. Gills led the entire field on Friday with 19 points, a season-high. She sank 6-of-11 field goal attempts and 3-of-6 long-range shots, and finished perfect from the charity strip, sinking 4-of-4 attempts. She added 7 points in the Lady Tigers win on Saturday.
 
Azhana Maxwell had an exceptional two games as well. Coming off the bench on Friday, she scored 12 points and led the team in steals with six. On Saturday, she earned a starting role and capitalized with 12 points on the day, again leading in steals with four.
 
One of the lady Tigers best bench players, Ta'Kyla Austin also put up strong numbers with eight points on Friday and 11 on Saturday. The 2019-20 SIAC Freshman of the Year, Amari Heard put away 11 points and grabbed 9 boards on Friday, while adding six points on Saturday and six rebounds. A huge bright spot during Saturday's win was redshirt freshman Autumn Westmoreland who led the team in scoring with 14 points in her best outing of the season.
 
The Lady Tigers have strengthened their post-play this year, scoring 46 points in the paint on both Friday and Saturday. They converted a total of 54 points in both games on turnovers and put up a combined 45 points on fast-break attempts.
 
Savannah State has only three games left in February as they wait to see if the SIAC will put together a March conference schedule.
 
They host Fort Valley State on Monday, Feb. 22 in Tiger Arena. On Wednesday, Feb. 24, they'll seek some revenge on the top school in the conference, when they travel to Columbia, S.C. to play Benedict College. They close February on Sunday the 28 with a home match against Allen University.
 
All home games will be broadcast live at ssuathletics.com/watch.
 
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Savannah State basketball was originally scheduled to begin in January. The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) voted to push the season back to March, hoping to be able to host a conference season safely. In the same vote, they allowed for member institutions to schedule nonconference games in February. They also voted that no fans would be allowed at any SIAC contest.
 
The Lady Tigers scheduled eight games in February against SIAC member schools. None of them counting as conference games. After their opening game against Allen was postponed, Savannah State finally opened their season in Tiger Arena against Benedict College—the ranked and reigning SIAC Champions.
 
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