LADY BEARS OF MILES COLLEGE DEFEAT TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY TO ADVANCE TO SEMIFINALS
ATLANTA, GA – Day two of the 78th Annual Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Basketball Tournament was the start of quarterfinal action. In women's play, the number three seed Lady Bears of Miles College (20-7; 16-6) began tournament play after a first round bye. In a 2 p.m. match up at Forbes Arena on the Morehouse College campus, the Lady Bears met the number six seed Tigerettes of Tuskegee University who advanced to the quarterfinals after an opening round win over Claflin University.
The quarterfinal meeting was the third of the season between the teams. During the regular season, the Lady Bears defeated the Tigerettes on both occasions.
At the start of this game it appeared that the Lady Bears would easily claim a sweep of the Tigerettes this season. An opening 11-0 scoring run by the Lady Bears stunned the Tigerettes who did not score their first points until the 14:08 mark in the first half.
After trailing 11-2, the Tigerettes started to elevate their play and made a charge at the early Lady Bear lead. With 12:34 remaining in the half, Tuskegee cut the Miles lead to 15-8. At the 10 minute mark, the Lady Bear lead was reduced to three points, 17-14. With 8:49 left, the Tigerettes tied the game at 20 points each. With seven minutes remaining, the Tigerettes claimed their first lead of the game, 23-21. Along with that change of lead also went the notion that this game would be an easy win for either team.
At the intermission, the Lady Bears maintained a 35-33 lead.
For the first 11 minutes of the second half the score still reflected the closeness of the game. It wasn't until the nine minute mark that the Lady Bears created some separation by opening up an eight point lead, 55-47. With 4:08 left, the Lady Bears led 59-54. After a Lady Bear three point basket with 3:27 left, Miles led by seven points, 62-55.
With one minute left, after a missed Tuskegee shot, the Lady Bears scored a lay up in transition with 44 seconds left to make the score 64-59. Tuskegee quickly ran the length of the floor and got a lay up to cut the Lady Bear lead to 64-61. With Tuskegee forced to foul with 18 seconds left, two free throws by the Lady Bears sealed the Miles win and sent them into the semifinals with a 66-63 win.
Senior
Ashley Orphey and junior
Sammeika Thomas led the Lady Bears in scoring with 17 points each and Thomas grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Thomas went 7-for-8 at the free throw line, 5-of-14 on the floor, two assist and two blocked shots. Junior
Toccara Charles finished with 16 points and junior
Kamissah Shaw added 6.
Tuskegee, Keyonnia Cook had a game-high 22 points and Tequila Martin added 11 points.
The Lady Bears will meet the winner of the Albany State University versus Stillman College quarterfinal match up. The semifinal game will take place at 2 p.m. (3/4/11) in the Forbes Arena on the Morehouse College campus.
