The Tennessee State Lady Tigers gave the number two team in the Ohio Valley Conference all they wanted but unfortunately for the Tigers, their upset bid came up short as the Lady Lions defeated the Lady Tigers 75 to 70.
Taking advantage of Lindenwood’s sluggish start Tennessee State was able to jump out to a 9 to 4 lead at the five-minute 27-second mark of the opening quarter. The Lions picked up their play outscoring TSU 7 to 2 in just 1:11 to tie the contest at 11. The contest would see two ties and three lead changes, with Lindenwood taking a 19-15 lead into the second quarter.
Lindenwood continues to lead in the second quarter, building as much as a nine-point lead at 34-25. A pair of Somah Kamara layups and a Kiki Roberts free throw over the last 2:11 trimmed the lead to 34-30 at halftime.
The third quarter was by far the Lady Tigers’ best of the afternoon. TSU scored 26 points on 70.6% (12-17)from the field, including connecting on 2 of their 3 attempts from downtown. Buoyed by this offensive output the Lady Tigers were able to take their first lead since the first quarter at 47-45 on Erin Martin’s jumper. Tennessee State built its lead to as much as 53-47. Unfortunately for TSU their raised level of play also coincided with Lindenwood’s best offensive quarter, as the Lions shot 66.7% (10-15) including 40% (2-5) from downtown in scoring 23 points. With their offense also firing on all cylinders the Lions were able to quickly erase the 6-point lead and reclaim the lead 54-53 on Brooke Coffey’s layup with 1:07 left in the frame. Lindenwood took a 57-56 lead into the game’s final quarter.
The game’s final 10 minutes were a hotly contested affair, with ties at 61 and 64 apiece. After Kamara’s layup tied the game at 66, TSU took a 68-67 lead on Martin’s layup. After Mya Skoff’s free throws put Lindenwood up 69-68, another Martin put the Lady Tigers back in front 70-69 with 3:13 remaining. That would be TSU’s final points of the evening as they went 0/3 from the field with 2 turnovers over the remainder of the game.
Erin Martin led Tennessee State with 18 points, her second-highest scoring output of the season. Aaniya Webb added 13 points and Genesis Harris added 10 points.
The Lady Tigers return to action February 21 when they take on SIUE. The Lady Cougars put it on TSU in their last meeting to the tune of a 63-41 spanking.
