SSU Women's Basketball Ties School Scoring Record With 93-84 Win Over Troy University

SAVANNAH, Georgia  -- After a season long 10-game road stretch, the Savannah State Lady Tigers returned home on Sunday to tie a school record for scoring in a single game with a 93-84 win over the Troy Trojans in Tiger Arena.

The single game scoring record was set on February 26, 2007 against Allen University. SSU was led by senior Ezinne Kalu who scored 22 points and grabbed a career-high 9 rebounds. Junior transfer Bria Dorsey was on Kalu's heels with 20 points.

The Lady Tigers offense was balanced outside the top scorers, as Jasmine Norman and Jasmine Kirkland each had nine points, Tiyonda Davis and Kenyata Hendrix each had eight points, and Jerryshia Williams added seven points.

This is the sixth game this year in which the Lady Tigers have scored more than 70 points. They are averaging 63.2 points per game. They scored 64 of their points in the paint. They improve their overall record this season to 6-7. Troy falls to 4-7 overall.

For the Trojans, Joanna Harden led the field with 27 points, Ronita Garrett put up 21 points and grabbed 19 boards and Brooke Bowie added 10 points.

Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field, but SSU was dangerous from the charity strip, hitting 23-of-36 attempts (61.1 percent), to Troy's 57.6 percent (19-for-23).

Teams got off to a slow start in the high scoring contest. Norman opened up with a 3-pointer at the 18:26 mark, and was answered from Garrett with a 3-pointer at the 18:10 mark.

With 12:13 to play, Troy took their largest lead of the game, 17-12, behind a layup from Brianna Lancaster.

SSU fired back with a 6-0 run capped by a layup from Williams for the Lady Tigers second lead of the game, 18-17. With 10:35 to play, Kourtney Coleman tied the game for the third time with a good free-throw.

SSU responded midway through the opening period with a 7-0 run. Dorsey capped the run with a layup with 7:29 to play for a 25-18 SSU advantage.

In the final minutes of the first half, SSU pushed out to their largest lead of the half, 35-23, behind a layup from Charmaine Green with 2:14 to play.  SSU maintained a 39-30 lead into the locker room.

Teams turned on the steam in the second half. SSU improved their shooting from 34.3 percent from the field to 50 percent (17-for-34). Troy improved from 34.7 percent in the first half to 59.4 percent (19-for-32). Both teams scored 54 points in the second period and both shot better than 50 percent from the charity strip.

Kalu sank a layup on a fast break to lift SSU to a 10 point, 47-37 lead with 16:46 to play. SSU held a double-digit lead for the subsequent two minutes.

Troy opened a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Bowie, to cut the Lady Tigers lead to 51-47 with 13:57 to play.

Minutes later, the Lady Tigers regained a double-digit lead behind a layup from Kalu for a 61-51 advantage. With 7:36 to play, Kalu lifted SSU to their largest lead of the game, 69-53, with a layup.

Troy responded with a 9-0 run, again capped by a 3-pointer from Bowie, to cut the home team's lead to 69-62 with 5:56 to play.

In the final minutes, Troy managed to get within four points of SSU's lead, but was never able to take a lead. Norman sank two good free-throws with 5 seconds left, and Harden drained a free-throw in the last second for the final score.

The Lady Tigers scored 38 points in the paint and never gave up their lead. They are 6-2 this season when leading at the half and 6-0 when leading with three minutes left.

Savannah State returns to action on January 4 with their Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opener, against Maryland Eastern Shore. Tipoff in Tiger Arena is set for 6 p.m.

Box Score            

COURTESY SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION