BIRMINGHAM, Ala.- Playing their first road game of the season, the Savannah State University women's basketball team struggled to find their rhythm which resulted in a 68-45 loss to Miles College, in a game played December 4, 2023 in Knox-Windham Gym/Fair Park Arena.
 
The Lady Tigers fell behind 11-4 in the first quarter and had to play catch-up all night.
 
Trailing by seven, a 3-pointer by Mya Byrd closed SSU's gap to 11-7 with 4:12 left in the opening quarter. They would not score again until Aaliyah Carlock hit a free throw with 50 seconds remaining.
 
Miles led 14-8 after the first ten minutes of action.
 
Savannah State opened the second quarter with a jumper by Nyla Allen to get within four but Miles answered with a pair up layups to extend their lead to 20-10.
 
With 6:07 on the clock, Amani Hamilton was fouled while making a layup for SSU. The sophomore forward added the free throw to cut Miles lead to 22-15 but the Bears went on a 10-2 run to take a 15-point lead.
 
SSU trailed by 16 in the final seconds of the first half but a layup by Ja'Siiyah Holmes sent the Lady Tigers into intermission trailing 35-21.
 
Miles started the third quarter by scoring the first seven points to push their lead to 42-21 at the 8:50 mark.
 
Savannah State's first points of the second half came with 7:23 remaining in the third quarter when Amari Heard hit a layup on a fast-break.
 
Down by 24 with five minutes left in the quarter, the Lady Tigers gained some momentum as Heard scored six points during a 10-0 run as SSU whittled their deficit down to 51-37 with 2:19 remaining.
 
SSU managed a free throw by Byrd to close out of the quarter as Miles went into the fourth quarter with a 55-38 cushion.
 
A layup by Holmes and a free throw by Heard trimmed Savannah State's deficit to 14 with 8:28 left in the contest. Miles responded with a 11-0 spurt that gave them their largest lead of the game at 66-41 with 2:59 left.
 
Two free throws and a jumper by Carlock made the score 66-45 with 1:07 remaining.
 
Heard was the only Savannah State player in double figures with 15 points. She also had a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Holmes had eight points followed by Hamilton (7), Byrd (6) and Carlock (5). Allen and Jashiyah Jones scored two points each.
 
Feliah Greer had 21 points for Miles (4-1, 4-0 SIAC).
 
After starting the season with back-to-back wins, Savannah State has now dropped three of their last four games.
 
The Lady Tigers (3-3, 1-2 SIAC) will try to bounce back on Dec. 16 when they host Tuskegee at Tiger Arena at 2 p.m.