Monday, March 16, 2015

Savannah State To Play South Carolina In NCAA Tournament


                  No. 16 Lady Tigers take on No. 1 Gamecocks in Columbia, S.C.

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- In the school's first NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Tournament berth, No. 16 Savannah State will travel to Columbia, South Carolina to take on No. 1 South Carolina in the First Round of the tournament on Friday, March 20 at 5 p.m. in Colonial Life Arena.

The game will be televised live on ESPN2.

Savannah State (21-10) and South Carolina (30-2) met on December 14 during the regular season. In the team's 7th meeting, the Gamecocks handed SSU their worst loss of the season, 111-49. At the time, South Carolina was ranked No.1 in the nation.


NCAA Championship Tournament Full Bracket

During South Carolina's 23-0 win streak that opened the 2014-15 season, the Lady Tigers put up more points on the Gamecocks than Clemson (44-99), San Diego State (38-89) and Wisconsin (44-67), Central Michigan (49-69) and Florida (49-60).

The Gamecocks had the best regular season in school history, and claimed the program's first Southeastern Conference Title beating Tennessee 62-46. They were ranked No. 1 in the nation for 12 weeks.

Savannah State earned the program's first NCAA Championship berth and first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Title with a 65-47 rout of Maryland Eastern Shore. The Lady Tigers are on a program-high (since 1981) 11-game win streak.

During this historic season, Savannah State garnered some of the program's biggest wins. They opened with an 83-80 win over Troy on the road, and followed that with the programs first win over an SEC opponent in Division I history, beating the University of Florida 68-58 in Tiger Arena.

The Lady Tigers then broke five-time defending MEAC Champion Hampton's 54-game consecutive win streak over fellow MEAC schools with a 61-55 victory in Tiger Arena.

Savannah State is led by All-MEAC redshirt senior Ezinne Kalu, who is averaging 16.4 points a game. Among active players in NCAA Division I women's basketball, Kalu is ranked third in career points (2,098), and first in career steals (380). MEAC Tournament MVP Jasmine Normanfollows Kalu as the only other Lady Tiger in double-digit scoring, averaging 11.4 points a game.


COURTESY SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION 

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