Tennessee State (10-14, 7-4 OVC) led by as many as 18 points and had to hold off a late Murray State (8-14, 1-9 OVC) rally in the victory.
Chelsea Hudson led all TSU scorers with 16 points while Jayda Johnson scored 11. Briana Morrow and Jemilah Leonard each finished with 10 points.
Murray State was paced by Jessica Winfrey’s 17 points while Taylor Porter (14) and Janssen Starks (11) also posted double-figures.
Without its starting point guard the TSU offense was stagnant early on. Midway through the opening frame, the teams had played to an 11-11 tie.
Over the next six minutes there were three ties and four lead changes. TSU was trailing, 20-19, when the Lady Tigers used a 14-1 run, fueled by six points from Briana Morrow, to capture a 34-21 advantage.
With 34 seconds on the clock, Murray State scored after going five minutes without a bucket before TSU went into halftime with a, 36-24, led.
TSU opened up the second half with six unanswered points but MSU responded with a rally and cut the deficit down to 49-40.
On the next possession, Jemilah Leonard buried a triple to put the Lady Tigers back on top by double-digits. TSU went ahead, 63-47, when I’mani Davis scored on a break-away lay-up at the 6:21 mark but the visitors wouldn’t go away.
The Racers went on a 14-3 run to slice the Lady Tiger lead down to just, 66-61, with less than three minutes remaining.
TSU was leading, 68-63, when Murray State was forced to foul.
The Lady Tigers were able to make enough free-throws to keep the Racers at bay.
Tennessee State returns to action on Saturday, Feb.15 across town at Belmont. Game is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the Curb Event Center.
COURTESY TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS
No comments:
Post a Comment