SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State University officially opened the second stint of the Phillip Wallace, Jr. era with a 109-73 win over Trinity College of Jacksonville on Monday evening in Tiger Arena.

Wallace began his coaching career at SSU in 1990, won 105 games during his five year tenure (1990-95) and received an at large berth to the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1995.

Jaliyah Harper, the lone senior on the roster said that the team was well prepared for their season opener.

"We take practice very seriously because we know what we've got ahead. We lock in on everything we need to do for the game."

The Lancaster, Texas native added that the team fed off the energy from the crowd which led to their 36-point win but knows that the schedule will get harder as they get ready for conference play. "It feels great. The energy in here is ecstatic — but we know it only gets tougher from here."

Down 6-4, Savannah State strung together a 17-0 run to go ahead 21-6 at the 3:29 mark.

The Eagles were able to trim their deficit to 21-12 but SSU ended the quarter with three free throws by Sanai Chisholm and a 3-pointer by Makalia Johnson to run their lead back to 27-12.

Ahead 34-16, a layup by Haylee Malcum jump-started a 8-0 spurt that expanded the SSU lead to 42-16 with 6:05 remaining in the first half.

Savannah State's lead never dipped below 20 the remainder of the second quarter and the Orange & Blue took a 54-30 advantage into intermission.

When asked about the consistency of the team during the game, Harper stated "for us, it's about playing hard every game and coming out on top when we take the court."

TCJ opened the third quarter with a pair of free throws to cut Savannah State's lead to 22 but the Lady Tigers responded with layups from Malcum, Jayden Boykin, Harper and Ansley Hicks and a free throw from Malcum to grab a 63-32 lead with 8:14 showing on the clock.

A steal by Malcum led to a layup by Boykin to give SSU a 69-34 cushion with 6:35 left in the third quarter.

Trinity was able to get as close as 27 with just over three minutes remaining in the quarter before the Lady Tigers answered with Chisholm making two free throws and a layup to give the home team a 75-44 lead.

Savannah State entered the fourth quarter with a 82-54 lead but the Eagles began the quarter with a 7-4 spurt to get within 25 with 7:17 remaining. Free throws by Johnson and Hicks pushed SSU's lead to 90-61.

With the score 92-65, Saniyah Rice hit two free throws and a 3-pointer while Johnson added a jumper and a free throw to give SSU a 100-65 advantage with four minutes left.

A free throw by Kira Williams and a layup from Chisholm gave the Lady Tigers a 103-65 lead with 3:29 left and a layup by Johnson gave Savannah State their largest lead of the night at 105-66 at the 2:23 mark.

Every SSU player scored at last two points and were led by Boykin's 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.

Harper had 18 points and 3 steals, Chisholm added 13 points and 4 assists, Johnson scored 12 points and had seven rebounds, Hicks had 11 points and Malcum finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds.

Rice had 8 points, Anita Burnett had 4 points, Jazmin Thornton had 4 points, 4 assists and 3 blocks, Williams scored 3 points and Raven Birt ended the game with 2 points.

Savannah State held a 42 to 38 rebounding advantage and scored 40 points off 30 TCJ turnovers. The Lady Tigers scored 60 points in the paint and had 22 fast break points.

SSU ended the game shooting 53.8 percent from the field, including 73.3 percent in the second quarter.

On the squad's mindset going forward, Harper said "we just have to put our front foot forward and have a great game every time."

Savannah State will hit the road for their next three games, beginning with a trip to LeMoyne-Owen on November 20 to start SIAC play.

Paul Holm contributed to this story.

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