Nashville, Tenn. --- The Tennessee State University women's
basketball team suffered an 89-68 loss to Southern Illinois Tuesday night in
the Gentry Center.
Strong offensive rebounding and free-throws led to Southern
Illinois building a 16-point lead at halftime. SIU outscored TSU, 48-43, in the
second frame to keep the Lady Tigers at bay.
TSU (2-3) dropped its first home contest of the season while
SIU (2-2) won its second straight.
Tayla Foster
recorded a double-double to lead TSU with 18 points and 10 rebounds
while Destiney Gaston added 15. Jasmin Shuler finished the game with 10 points.
TSU used a timeout early in the first half after falling
behind, 10-2. The Lady Tigers pulled to within two, 13-11, after a bucket by
Destiney Gaston sparked a 9-3 run. Two free-throws put the visitors on top,
15-11, before TSU once again drew within two.
With about seven minutes left in the half, the score was
27-23 in favor of the Salukis when back-to-back three-pointers made the SIU
lead double-digits.
SIU outscored TSU, 6-0, in the final two and a half minutes
of the half to carry a 41-25 lead into the locker room.
TSU went 11-of-33 from the field, including 0-of-8, from
three-point range while hitting 3-of-6 from the free-throw line in the first
half. SIU shot 12-of-29 from the floor while knocking down 3-of-7 from long
range and 14-of-18 from the charity stripe.
In the second frame, Jasmin Shuler hit her first triple of
the game to make the score, 42-28 with 18:28 on the clock. SIU, however, built
its lead back up to 20 points three minutes later.
The TSU offense never gained any momentum as SIU swelled the
advantage up to 32 points before going on to win, 89-68.
The Lady Tigers committed 20 turnovers in the game and lost
the battle of the boards, 51-39.
Following the Thanksgiving holiday the Lady Tigers return to
action at the Hoops for the Cure tournament hosted by Southern Methodist in
Dallas, Texas. TSU will face Fresno State on Friday at 4 p.m. before matching
up with either SMU or Cal State Fullerton on Saturday.
