COLUMBIA, S.C.- Savannah State won their third game in a row with four players scoring in double figures in a 77-69 win over Benedict, in a game played on Monday night in HRC Arena.

K'lya Hankerson netted a career-high 33 points while pulling down 11 rebounds to lead the way. The Savannah, Georgia native is the first SSU player to score at least 30 points in a game since Ezinne Kalu scored 30 points against Bethune-Cookman on February 1, 2014. Alayah Birch had 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals while Jazmin Thornton and Myasia Jones scored 11 points each. Thornton grabbed 11 rebounds for her second double-double in a row.

Savannah State improved to 9-8 overall and 5-6 in the SIAC, with the victory.

With just under four minutes remaining in the contest, the Lady Tigers held a 20 point cushion but Benedict strung together a 18-2 rally to cut their deficit to 71-67 with 1:17 showing on the clock. A layup by Hankerson gave SSU a six point lead but Benedict answered with a jumper by Alaysia Nash to make it a 73-69 game with 40 seconds left. Savannah State sealed the game in the closing seconds with Hankerson making two free throws with 32 seconds left and Jones hitting two free throws with 12 seconds remaining for the final points of the game.

Benedict opened the contest with the first four points before SSU answered with a 10-0 run that saw Thornton hit two free throws, Jayden Boykin make back-to-back layups followed by layups from Hankerson and Birch. The Lady Tigers led by as many as seven in the opening quarter before Benedict closed the quarter with a 7-1 spurt to get within 14-13. Benedict trailed by as many as five in the second quarter and made a late push to take a 33-32 lead into intermission.

Benedict began the third quarter with a 3-pointer to extend their lead to 36-32 but Savannah State responded with nine unanswered points to go ahead 41-36 with 7:06 showing on the clock. After Benedict whittled their deficit to 43-42 with 4:55 on the clock, SSU finished the quarter with a 11-4 run to take a 54-46 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Savannah State opened the fourth quarter with a 13-1 run for a 67-47 advantage with 4:50 remaining. Benedict (7-10, 5-7 SIAC) kept chipping away at SSU's lead and got it to single digits with just over two minutes remaining.

Savannah State won the rebounding battle 50 to 29 and scored 40 of their points inside the paint. The Lady Tigers finished the game shooting 45.9 percent from the field. SSU was every effective in the first (55.6 percent) and third quarters (62.5 percent).

Boykin added seven points, seven rebounds and three assists for Savannah State.

SSU will return to Tiger Arena on February 1 for a date with Edward Waters at 1 p.m.

Stay Connected
For complete coverage of Savannah State University Athletics, follow the Tigers on social media @SavStateTigers on Facebook, Instagram, and X (Formerly Known As Twitter), or visit the official online home of SSU Athletics at http://ssuathletics.com.