MOBILE, Ala. – The Spring Hill College (SHC) women's basketball team fought to an 82-71 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) victory over the Fort Valley State University (FVSU) Wildcats on Wednesday evening at the Arthur R. Outlaw Recreation Center.
The Wildcats (8-10, 4-5 SIAC East) trailed the Badgers from wire-to-wire and by as much as 23-points with 4:46 remaining in the 1
st half, but clawed back to make it a 9-point contest at 50-41 with 3:18 left in the 3
rd quarter.
SHC righted the ship over the next minute of play when senior shooting guard
Elise Reilly of Covington, La., drained consecutive 3-pointers to put FVSU back in a 58-41 hole.
It looked like the Badgers had the contest sewn up with 3 minutes to play and holding an 18-point advantage, but FVSU used a sudden 12-0 run to pull back within six points at 74-68 with 1:31 still showing on the clock.
Reilly would put in two free throws to stop the bleeding at 1:12 remaining and SHC would make its final free four throws sandwiched around interior layups to seal win.
Senior forward
Tiffany Valentine of Houston, Texas led the Badger offense with 16 points while senior guard
Daja Walker of Tuskegee, Ala., was close behind her with 15 points. Reilly pitched in 13 points while junior point guard
Carrington Matias of Henderson, N.C., contributed 10 points. Junior forward
Katie Krout of Tuscaloosa, Ala., enjoyed a double/double performance with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
As a team, the Badgers shot a sizzling 61.2% (30-49) from the floor and a healthy 46.2% (6-13) from beyond 3-point distance. SHC continued to struggle with turnovers by fumbling the ball 31 times against 11 steals by the Wildcats defense as FVSU outscored Spring Hill 30-17 in points off turnovers. The Badgers knocked down 76.2% (16-21) of their free throw opportunities and controlled the boards by a 40-35 margin, taking a 17-11 advantage in second-chance scoring.
Tanziha Fanning came off the bench to pace the Wildcats with 15 points as FVSU shot 37.8% (28-74) from the field and 18.2% (4-22) from 3-point range. Ft. Valley scored on just 52.4% (11-21) of its free throws and lost 20 turnovers to nine Badger steals.
The Badgers (6-12, 5-4 SIAC West) will next travel to Jackson, Tenn. on Monday to take on the Lane College Dragons (4-11, 3-5 SIAC West) at 5:30 p.m. in J.F. Lane Gymnasium.
