SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State's freshmen class stepped up in a big way on Saturday afternoon, leading the Lady Tigers to a 73-71 overtime victory over Benedict, in a game played in Tiger Arena.

SSU, who trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, kept chipping away at Benedict's lead and was able to force overtime where they outscored Benedict 6-4.

Freshman Alayah Birch led all scorers with a career-high 24 points while fellow newcomer Jazmin Thorton also had career beat performance with 18 points. Jayden Boykin, another frosh, collected 15 points.

Savannah State led 9-5 but Benedict used a 11-2 run to go ahead 16-11 with just under four minutes left in first quarter.

Benedict led 22-19 after one quarter of play but a pair of free throws by Boykin to open the second quarter put SSU within one at 22-21.

Savannah State led 25-24 but Benedict used a 19-2 run to go ahead 43-27 with 1:33 left in the second quarter.

The first half ended with jumpers by Myasia Jones and Thornton which sent SSU into the locker-room down 43-31.

Benedict led by 15 with 3:58 left in the third quarter before the Lady Tigers scored the next 11 points to trim their deficit to 53-49.

The visitors from Columbia, South Carolina stretched their lead to 58-51 early in the fourth quarter before a 9-1 spurt by Savannah State put the Orange and Blue ahead 60-59 at the 4:42 mark.

SSU led 67-64 with 1:02 left but Benedict (7-13, 5-9 SIAC) was able to tie the game at 67 with six seconds left.

Mya Byrd had her 3-point attempt blocked with three seconds left and Birch missed a layup with one second left which forced an extra five minutes of play.

In the overtime period, a jumper by Birch gave SSU a 69-67 advantage but Benedict went ahead on a free throw and a layup (70-69).

Savannah State answered with a jumper by Thornton and a layup by Birch to go ahead 73-70 with 1:35 showing on the clock.

The win gives SSU the season sweep over Benedict, after beating them 77-69 on January 27 in Columbia.

Thornton and Boykin both had nine rebounds for Savannah State while Birch grabbed seven.

Byrd scored 11 points and added five rebounds and three assists while Jones had a game-high 12 rebounds to go with her five points.

In a game that had three ties and 12 lead changes, the Lady Tigers had 14 fast break points and scored 38 points in the paint.

Savannah State improved to 11-9 and 7-7 in the SIAC and will host Allen in Tiger Arena on February 10 at 5:30 p.m.

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