Image via Tennessee State Athletics
Despite a valiant effort, the Tennessee State Lady Tigers came up short against Little Rock, 67-60.
The teams started the game swapping the lead three times before a pair of Sug Williams free throws put Little Rock 8-7. The Lady Trojans would build their lead to as much as 8 points before ultimately taking a 15-13 lead into the second quarter.
Tennessee State was able to slice the Little Rock lead to a single point on two separate occasions – at 20-19 on Lyric Cole’s turnaround J and 22-21 on Kiki Roberts’ layup- but could not seize the lead. For the last 6:26 of the quarter the Lady Tigers went 1-7 from the floor, and committed 5 turnovers, aiding Little Rock in building a 39-25 halftime advantage.
Tennessee State was unable to make much headway in the third quarter as they trailed by no fewer than 12 and as much as 18 points.
The resilient Lady Tigers continued to work to claw their way back in the contest, whittling the Little Rock lead down to 3 points on a XaiOnna Whitfield basket that made the score 61-58 with 2:12 left on the clock.
Four points from Little Rock pushed the lead to 65-58 with just 0:49 and the Lady Trojans went on to claim a 67-60 victory.
XaiOnna Whitfield led three Lady Tigers in double figures with 15 points, and Lyric Cole and Saniah Parker chipped in with 10 points each.
The Lady Tigers (5-16, 1-10) have losers of 2 in a row and 12 of their last 13 contests, and will look to pick themselves off the proverbial mat when they head to Cape Girardeau to face SEMO. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:30 PM CST.
