Edwardsville, Ill. --- In a hard fought battle, the
Tennessee State University women's basketball team dropped a, 75-69, decision
to SIU Edwardsville Monday night in the Vadalabene Center.
Tennessee State (11-14, 7-7 OVC) was led in scoring by
Jasmin Shuler 's season-high 25 points while Kesi Hess added 21. Simone Hopes
led the Lady Tigers with eight rebounds and Rachel Allen dished out nine
assists.
SIU Edwardsville (14-13, 8-7 OVC) qualified for the OVC
Tournament with the win and was led in scoring by Tierny Austin's 16 points.
Raven Berry had a double-double with 15 points and 18 rebounds.
TSU shot 32.4 percent from the field, including 32.0 percent
from the three-point line. The Lady Tigers lost the battle of the boards,
54-36, and made 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) from the free-throw line.
SIUE made 42 percent of its shots from the field and 45.5 percent
from beyond the arc. The Cougars made 28-of-45 free-throws in the contest.
The game was knotted at 4-all when Kesi Hess knocked down a
three-pointer that sparked an 11-4 run to put the Lady Tigers on top, 18-8. SIUE
scored the next two buckets but TSU answered with back-to- back triples to make
the score, 24-12, in favor of TSU.
With 7:23 on the clock, Tennessee State extended its lead to
29-16 when Tanesha Stenson knocked down
the Lady Tigers' fifth three-pointer of the half. From there, however, TSU went
cold and only made one more a field goal for the rest of the frame. During TSU's
drought, SIUE used a 16-2 run to take the lead, 32-31, with 54 seconds on the
clock.
TSU went into the locker room leading, 35-32, after Brianna
Lawrence and Kesi Hess each made two free-throws as the half came to a close.
The teams played to a 55-55 deadlock midway through the second
half before SIUE scored four unanswered to go ahead. The Lady Tigers battled
back to within one on a free-throw by Simone Hopes but the Cougars once again
created a little distance, 67-61.
The Cougars stretched the advantage to, 71-63, with just
under two minutes remaining when Kesi Hess connected from the top of the key to
cut the deficit down to five.
TSU pulled to within three with 59 seconds left but the Lady
Tigers ran out of time. SIUE was able to hold on for the win.
The Lady Tigers return to action at home on Thursday, Feb.
28 for the "Sport Girls Rock" game against Morehead State. Tip-off is slated
for 12 noon in the Gentry Center.
---tsutigers---
