Box Score ORANGEBURG, SC – Graduate guard
Bryeasha Blair scored on a driving layup with 4.7 seconds to lift South Carolina State to an 80-78 overtime win over visiting Savannah State Thursday night at Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center.
Blair, who joined the career 1,000-point club, finished with 27 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs, who earned a sweep of the Lady Tigers this season with the victory. Kemoni Jenkins added 14 points and three assists before leaving the game in the extra period with an injury, and
Chantel Williams contributed 10 for SC State. Jasmine Williams had six rebounds to power the Lady Bulldogs on the boards.
Coach Doug Robertson's team erased a seven-point, fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime and eventually grab the victory, in completing the regular season at 11-17 overall and 6-10 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Lady Bulldogs will open play in the MEAC Tournament Tuesday at Norfolk, VA against an opponent to be determined.
"It's good to end the regular season on a winning note," said SC State's Robertson. "We played with a lot of effort, a lot of energy but we have to take better care of the basketball. We had too many turnovers and did not play smart at times.
"But, we had one of our better shooting nights, hitting over 47 percent from the field. We need a better effort from the free throw line, however, as we missed nine free throws, including five or six during a critical stage of the game. I hope this win will give us some momentum going to Norfolk."
The Lady Bulldogs connected on 47.8 percent (33-69) of their shots from the field, but made only 4-14 attempts from three-point range and were only 10-19 from the charity stripe. Robertson's team also had 19 turnovers.
Kaylee Allen had a career-high 38 points, 21 in the first half, to lead the Lady Tigers who ended their regular-season at 4-24 and 1-15 in the league. Jazmine Bartlett was the only other Lady Tiger in double figures with 10 points. Savannah State and Coach Cedric Baker will open play in the MEAC tournament on Monday.
The visitors matched SC State's shooting from the field with a 47.5 (29-61) accuracy and were much better at the free throw line, nailing 17-21 attempts, however, they had seven more turnovers with 26. The rebounds were almost even with Savannah State with 38 and SC State 37.
The game was tightly contested throughout with 21 ties and 10 lead changes. The host Lady Bulldogs led 24-22 after one but it was Savannah State using a 15-12 second period to go to the locker room ahead 37-36.
The Lady Tigers led 60-58 going into the final period and went ahead 65-58 on a Jacqueline Anderson 3-pointer with 8:54 to play in regulation before SC State rallied to tie at 70-all on a Jasmine Williams put back with 4:07 left. Each team scored just one basket in the final minutes of regulation which end up deadlocked at 72 apiece, setting up the extra period.
--30--