Benedict Lady Tigers Advance To SIAC Championship With 64-36 Victory Over Tuskegee

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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama  -- The Benedict College Lady Tigers advanced to the championship game of the SIAC Tournament for the second year in a row by holding Tuskegee to 16 second-half points and 21 percent shooting for the game in a 64-36 victory on Friday night in the Bill Harris Arena.

The Lady Tigers, the No. 2 seed from the East advance to Saturday's championship game, where they will face Albany State, the No. 1 seed from the East, at 5 p.m. Central Time.

Latoya Fairley had a dominating first half, as she had nine points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots to help give Benedict a 28-20 lead at the break. She finished the contest with 15 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. The 15 rebounds were a season-high, and the four blocked shots matched her season high.

Britenique Harrison had her second double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Ashley Thompson contributed 14 points and Maya Nelson added 11. Benedict improved to 19-9 on the season.

The Lady Tigers dominated the glass, out-rebounding Tuskegee 68-36. The 68 rebounds for Benedict was a season-high.

Tuskegee's 36 points matched a season-low for Benedict opponents. It was also a season-low for Tuskegee.



With 12:07 left in the second half, Tuskegee's Halle Bentley scored a layup to cut Benedict's lead to 38-28. But the Lady Golden Tigers did not score again for six and a half minutes as Benedict scored 15 straight points and pushed the lead to 53-28.

Alannah Vincent and Kajuanna Rivers led Tuskegee with nine points each. Tuskegee ends its season at 17-11.

"Defensively, we wanted to challenge every shot they took and rebound. I thought we did a good job with that," said Benedict coach James Rice. "Latoya always plays well for us. She's a big part of our team. In the first half, they didn't want to double-team her, so she went to work."

Benedict advances to the tournament championship game for the second year in a row, although this year's Lady Tiger team has few holdovers from last year's squad. But Rice said he learned the importance of having good post players in last year's championship game against Clark Atlanta, so he added height to the roster in Fairley and Harrison.

Albany State swept the regular-season series against Benedict.

"Albany State is a good team. They've got a good inside-out game," Rice said
. "They play good defense like we do. We know it's going to be a challenge. We're going to step up and accept that challenge."

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