SAVANNAH, Ga.- The Savannah State University women's basketball team had their 2023-24 season come to an end on March 9 in the semifinals of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament with a 68-55 overtime loss to Miles College.
 
The Lady Tigers had a 17-point deficit in the second quarter and rallied in the second half to force a overtime period.
 
In the overtime, SSU could not make a basket as they were outscored 13-0, after missing eight field goal attempts and two free throw attempts.
 
The Lady Tigers split their season series with Miles, losing at Miles on December 4 by a score of 68-45 and winning 56-51 in Tiger Arena on February 7.
 
Savannah State's Amari Heard opened the game with a three point play the old fashion way with 8:09 showing on the clock.
 
The Golden Bears held SSU scoreless for seven minutes as they answered with a 16-0 run.
 
Down by 13, two free throws by Jashiyah Jones and a jumper from Mya Byd cut SSU's deficit to nine but Miles scored the last three points of the quarter for a 19-7 lead.
 
Miles shot 55.6 percent from the floor in the opening quarter while the Lady Tigers were just 2-of-16 from the field while missing all three 3-point attempts.
 
The Golden Bears opened the second quarter with a 7-2 spurt to go ahead 26-9 with 7:11 remaining in the first half.
 
Despite the early deficit, SSU head coach Cedric Baker said his team kept fighting.
 
"We dug a hole for ourselves early in the game but the young ladies were definitely resilient and we were able to bounce back in the second quarter."
 
Trailing by 15 with just over a minute left on the clock, Savannah State closed the period with jumpers from Amani Hamilton and Nyla Allen to go into intermission down 37-26.
 
The third quarter started with SSU getting back-to-back layups from Ta'Quasia Lampkin and Heard to get within seven.
 
Down 12 with 7:23 left, the Lady Tigers closed the third quarter on a 11-2 run with Allen scoring eight points and Byrd capping it with a 3-pointer with one second left to make the score 44-41.
 
Miles hit a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter but Savannah State responded with a layup by Lampkin and a 3-pointer by Allen to pull within 47-46.
 
After a missed shot by Miles, Jacquece Alston got the rebound and scored on a fast break layup where she was fouled. Alston converted the free throw with 5:31 left.
 
Alston then stole the ball from Miles and made another fast break layup to increase SSU's lead to 51-47 at the 5:14 mark.
 
Miles tied the game at 51 and the contest had another tie with 1:24 when it was knotted at 54.
 
A free throw by Allen gave the Lady Tigers a 55-54 lead but Miles made a free throw of their own with 1:01 left to tie the game.
 
Miles turned the ball over with 20 seconds left but Allen missed a jumper with one second left to send the contest into overtime.
 
The Golden Bears dominated the extra five minutes as they made 7 of 8 free throw attempts while hitting a pair of three pointers.
 
Miles used their size to out-rebound Savannah State 49 to 28 but going into the game, Baker knew the Golden Bears post players would present his team a problem.
 
"Miles had great size inside so we expected it to be a challenge on the boards."
 
Allen scored 16 points for SSU, Byrd added 11 and Lampkin hauled down 10 rebounds.
 
Heard chipped in seven points while Lampkin, Jones and Alston all scored five points each. Hamilton scored four points and Kiara Turner had two.
 
When asked what they did to chip away at the Golden Bears big lead, Heard stated that "we had to stay resilient and execute."
 
Miles head coach Pete Asmond had nothing but praise for the SSU program.
 
"They have a very good team. Coach Baker is a outstanding coach and they have one of the top teams in the league."
 
Asmond added that his team fed off their energy early in the contest. "We came out with a bunch of energy and we built on that."
 
When asked about how they countered with SSU's comeback, he said that when Baker made adjustments he made adjustments on his end. 
 
Asmond added that he relies on his defense to carry his team."We hang out hats on our defense. We get stops. We are built defensively."
 
Miles (22-6) was led by Iemyiah Harris' 29 points.
 
Although disappointed with the loss, Baker said that the team achieved their goal this season.
 
"It's been a great season and the ladies overachieved. Our goal was to make the SIAC Final four and we did that."
 
He went on to add "My goal is always to win games and graduate. We gave the fans a great game."
 
Savannah State finished the season as the SIAC Eastern Division champions and a 20-6 overall record.