Courtesy: Savannah State Athletics
SAVANNAH, Ga. — Savannah State women’s basketball sank over half of their shots in the second half of a key Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) game against Albany State on Saturday to seal up their 16th win of the season with a 72-54 win.
The No. 24 Lady Tigers improved to 9-1 in conference with the win in front of 975 fans in Tiger Arena. They remain in first place in the SIAC East Division standings.
In an unusually slow opening for Savannah State, the team shot only 33.3 percent from the floor in the first quarter of Saturday’s game. Albany State managed an 18 percent clip from the floor as both teams combined to miss 25 shots to open the game.
But the Lady Tigers held an 14-8 lead after the first period with some help from Azhana Maxwell who came off the bench to score a couple of field goals and Bria Gibbs who sank a couple in the paint.
The second period was worse for the Lady Tigers as they managed to hit only 5-of-16 attempts from the floor. Both teams scored 13 points each in the second. Savannah State held a slim 27-21 lead into the locker room.
The Lady Tigers returned to form in the final two quarters, combining to shoot 53 percent from the floor and 43 percent from beyond the arch in the second half, outscoring Albany State 45-33 for the final 18-point win.
On average, the Lady Tigers outscore their opponents by a margin of 20.8 points a game. They are averaging 80.0 points a game and have scored 1,360 points so far this season. The Lady Tigers have the 12th best scoring offense in the nation and the No. 1 scoring offense in the SIAC.
And they like to pass the ball. Out of 297 teams in NCAA Division II, Savannah State leads them all in assists per game. On Saturday, the team had 15 assists. They are averaging 14.8 assists per game this season.
Gibbs led the entire field with 20 points on Saturday, going 10-for-17 from the field for her 13th game in double figures. Le’Andrea Gillis put up 13 points for the Lady Tigers. Ta’Quasia Lampkin led the field in rebounds with 11 and assists with five.
Savannah State pauses the SIAC action for two non-conference road games. They face Claflin University on Feb. 2 in Orangeburg, S.C. and then travel to Jacksonville, Fla. to play SIAC provisional team Edward Waters on Feb. 5 before seeing Albany State again on Feb. 7 in Albany, Ga.