Lady Tigers get needed OVC win, 59-55 over USI

59

 Tennessee St. 8-13,3-7 OVC

55

Southern Ind. 9-13,3-8 OVC

In a game that they trailed for nearly 85% of the time, the Tennessee State women’s basketball squad defeated the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana, 59-55.

The Tigers got the scoring started with a three-pointer from Corina Suarez-Tudela on the first posession of the game. USI responded with buckets from Vanessa Stafford and Hannah Haithcock to take a 4-3 lead. Gia Adams jumper handed TSU a 5-4 lead with 7:08 left in the period, hoewver the game would be knotted at 10 three minutes and thirty-three seconds later on Zyion Shannon’s three pointer. The Eagles outscored the Tigers 7-4 for the remainder of the period.

The Tigers were unable to gain any ground in the second period, actually losing the frame by one, 14-13. TSU did themselves no favors, going just 1-7 from downtown and not grabbing a single offensive , while allowing three from the Eagles, which they were able to turn into 5 points; Tennessee State did not attempt a free throw in the period and found themselves down by four points, 31-27 heading into halftime.

The teams played to a 10-10 stalemate in the third quarter,as both team shot atrocioulsy, Tennessee State shooting 33.3% ( 4-12) and an even worse 21.1% ( 4-19) for Southern Indiana. The clubs combined to miss all 12 , 0-5 for TSU and 0-7 for USI, of their attempts from downtown. Although the Eagles punished the Tigers on the boards, grabbing 8 offensive rebounds, they were only able to turn them into two points.

Thankfully for Tennessee State, they saved their best for last , as the fourth quarter was the most offensively successful of the night. The Tigers scored 22 points in the frame, shooting, 7-12 from the floor, including 4-8 from distance. However even with the Tigers finding their shooting eye, the contest remained a nip-and-tuck affair, with TSU playing uphill for large stretches of the period. Erica Haynes-Overton’s layup pulled the Tigers even at 55 with 1:06 left in the contest. After Meredith Riley’s jumper was no good on the ensuing Eagles possession, Haynes-Overton found an open Saniah Parker who canned a three to put TSU up 58-55 with 0:09 left in the contest.

Tara Robbe’s game-tying atttempt fell no-good , however free-throw misses by Haynes-Overton left the door open for the Eagles to tie the game, but Tori Handley was unable to connect on a last-second attempt as the Tigers were able to pull out the three-point victory.

Haynes-Overton led three Tennessee State scorers in double figures with 15 points. Haynes-Overton also stuffed the stat sheet with 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals. Kianni Westbrook added 11 points, while Gia Adams chipped 10 points and 2 steals of her own.

The Ladt Tigers, now 8-13 overall and 3-7 in the OVC will continue their road trip when pay OVC-leading Eastern Illinois a visit Saturday afternoon. Tip-off is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. CST.

Next Game:
at Eastern Illinois
2/4/2023 | 1:00 PM

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