It was a rough day at the Arena at West Campus for the Albany State Golden Rams women’s basketball team, as the Tigers of Benedict took it to the Golden Rams 81-60.
Albany State got off to a strong start, taking a 12-4 lead on Chelsea Hill’s jumper with 3:5 left in the quarter. Great aided by Golden Rams turnovers on three consecutive possessions, Albany State had 22 turon the afternoon the Tigers were able to score 8 straight points over the next 1:37 seconds to quickly square the game at 12.
Hi Unique Miller’s layup put the Rams up by two with 0:53 left in the quarter but that time out in front was shortlived; 29 seconds later a three-pointer from Amaya Ashby put the Tigers up 15-14. Another three , this time from Mahogany Randall, put Benedict up by four, 18-14, as the quarter closed.
Albany State fell behind by seven , 26-19 , but seven straight points by the Rams knotted the game at 26. Benedict responded with a 7-0 run of their own, in a 1:56 span that included three consecutive Albany State turnovers, to take a 33-26 advantage, with 5:02 left in the quarter. For the remainder of the half, Albany State did themselves no Favors, going 0/7 from the floor with 4 turnovers, scoring just 4 points , which contributed to Benedict taking a 44-30 halftime lead.
From a shooting perspective, the third quarter was the most successful for the Golden Rams, as they shot 50% from the floor but that efficient shooting was somewhat negated by the 5 turnovers Albany State committed. Benedict only took 6 shots from the floor in the fourth quarter , but the Tigers’ effort was buoyed by the 14 free throws they attempted in the in the period, 10 of which they converted. Albany State shot an anemic 13.6% (3-22) from the floor, missed all three of their attempts from downtown and clanked 6 of their 12 free throw attempts in the frame.
The 21-point defeat was the Lady Rams’ second consecutive loss , dropping Coach Robert Skinner’s ballclub to 6-10 overall and 4-6 in the SIAC. The Golden Rams will look put the skids on a potential tumble down the conference standings Monday when the Yellow Jackets of Allen make the trip to The Arena at West Campus. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 PM EST.
