SAVANNAH, Ga.- The Savannah State University women's basketball team set a new single-game scoring record in a quarter in their season-opening 114-64 win over Trinity Baptist College which was played November 17, 2023 in Tiger Arena.
 
The Lady Tigers scored a  school-record 44 points in the third quarter which is the most since the NCAA went to a quarter system in women's basketball. The 44 points breaks the old school record of 40 points which was set November 6, 2018 in a 155-26 victory over Wesleyan College. In that contest, SSU scored 40 points in the fourth quarter.
 
In the win over Trinity, Mya Byrd scored a game-high 26 points to pave the way to victory. The Georgia State transfer also made five 3-pointers, had six rebounds, three assists and three steals.
 
All 11 SSU players who saw action had at least one rebound and ten Lady Tigers scored at least two points.
 
Savannah State scored the first four points of the contest as Jashiyah Jones hit a jumper and Amari Heard made a fast break layup.
 
Trinity tied the score at 4 but SSU responded with nine straight points to open up a 13-4 lead.
 
After the Eagles trimmed their deficit to 13-6, Savannah State put together a 10-0 run to go ahead 23-6 with 3:53 remaining in the first quarter.
 
A pair of free throws by Amani Hamilton gave SSU a 27-10 advantage with 31 seconds left in the quarter but a pair of field goals by Trinity dropped Savannah State's lead down to 13 before a jumper by Nyla Allen hit a jumper with one second remaining in the quarter to give SSU a 29-14 lead.
 
Savannah State (1-0) started the second quarter with a 14-4 spurt to push their lead to 43-18, following back-to-back fast-break layups from Jacquece Alston with 5:11 on the clock.
 
With just under two minutes left in the second quarter, the Eagles had whittled their deficit down to 17 with eight unanswered points but SSU didn't allow Trinity to score another field goal in the half and took a 49-29 lead into intermission.
 
Savannah State scored 44 points in the third quarter as they made 61 percent of their shots from the floor, went 3 of 5 from 3-point range and made 13 of 14 attempts from the free throw line.
 
During the third quarter, the Lady Tigers had runs of 7-0, 10-0, 4-0 and 19-2 as they limited Trinity to make 5 of 23 shots from the field.
 
Leading 93-42 after three quarters of play, the crowd of 517 waited for the Lady Tigers to hit the century mark.
 
A layup by freshman Ja'Siiyah Holmes to open the fourth quarter gave Savannah State 95 points. The next six points were scored by fellow freshman Kiara Turner as she hit a jumper at the 7:55 mark, made a layup with 6:33 left and hit a layup in paint with 5:30 showing on the clock to give Savannah State 101 points and a 51 point lead.
 
A fast-break layup with 4:46 on the clock by Byrd gave SSU their largest lead of the night at 55 points (105-50).
 
Trinity outscored the Lady Tigers the rest of the way but the outcome of the game had already been decided.
 
Heard had a double-double for Savannah State with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Alston contributed 14 points and six rebounds, Allen had 13 points, 8 assists and 5 steals, Hamilton had 13 points and 9 rebounds, Holmes had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks and Turner had 12 points and 4 rebounds. Jasmine Willis scored three points while Sanai Chisholm chipped in two points.
 
SSU finished the game shooting 47.7 percent from the floor while out-rebounding Trinity 63 to 40.
 
The Lady Tigers dominated the game from end to end by scoring 37 points of 33 Trinity turnovers, outscoring the Eagles in the paint 70 to 40, and getting more fast break points (27 to 9). SSU also got plenty of help from their reserves with the Lady Tiger bench players outscoring the Trinity backups 44 to 8.
 
Trinity, which is located in Jacksonville, Florida and competes with the National Christian College Athletic Association, falls to 3-3 with the loss. The Eagles were led by Madlyn Touze who had 19 points and 13 rebounds.
 
Savannah State will look to stay undefeated when they take on University of South Carolina-Beaufort, who is in their inaugural season of basketball, on November 21 in EnMarket Arena at 5:30 p.m. as part of the Savannah Hoops Invitational.