Image via Tennessee State women’s basketball/IG
In what was their overall best performance and signature win of the season, Tennessee State defeated Western Illinois 87-77 Saturday afternoon at the Gentry Center. The Lady Tigers, powered by their best shooting performance of the season, 50.8% (30-59), built as much as an 18-point lead and then weathered a furious comeback before putting away the No.1 team in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The teams played to a 20-all stalemate in the first period, which saw 6 ties and 7 lead changes. The second quarter was also a nip-and-tuck affair. After the teams swapped the lead in the early portion of the quarter, WIU took a 23-22 lead on Kaylen Reed’s jumpshot at the 7:49 mark. The Leathernecks showed the way until Kiki Roberts’ layup pushed the Lady Tigers back in front 29-28 with 3:10 remaining in the quarter. The contest would be tied at 29 and 34 all before Xai Whitfield’s layup with just 0:11 remaining in the half gave the Lady Tigers a 36-34 lead at the half.
The Tennessee State offense found its footing in the third quarter, shooting 61.5%(8-13) from the floor and 66.6% (4-6) from downtown and also converting 8 of their 9 free throw attempts. With their offense clicking on all cylinders, the Lady Tigers were able to build a lead that expanded to as much as 18 at 64-46 on Somah Kamara’s three-pointer with 1:09 left in the frame.
The Leathernecks went to work on whittling down the TSU lead. Aided by a LadyTigers scoring drought of 3:29, Western trimmed the lead down to 69-63 and drew closer yet at 70-65 with 4:15 left in the contest. Clinging to a 5-point lead and on the ropes, the Lady Tigers responded with a 10-4 spurt to extend the lead to 80-69 with 2:26 remaining.
Kiki Roberts’ layup with 1:02 remaining was the nail in the Leathernecks’ proverbial coffin, bringing the score to 84-73. The Lady Tigers went on to claim the 87-77 win.
Aaniya Webb led four Lady Tigers in double figures with 24 points; Somah Kamara had 18 points, Kiki Roberts added 15 points to go along with a team-high 7 rebounds, while Xai Whitfield chipped in with 11 points.
The win ends the Lady Tigers’ six-game losing streak. Up next for Tennessee State (4-19, 3-11) is a trip to Evansville, Indiana to take on Southern Indiana on February 12 at 5:00 pm. USI defeated TSU 72-67 in their meeting earlier this season.
