FINAL BOX
Richmond, Ky. --- In a game that was not decided until the final minute, the Tennessee State University women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest to Eastern Kentucky, 66-62, on the road Saturday night.
Tennessee State (7-8, 2-3 OVC) was led in scoring by Jayda Johnson's 22 points while Eastern Kentucky (7-11, 4-1 OVC) had three players in double-digits.
The game seemed to be played fairly evenly but untimely scoring droughts and missed free-throws hurt the Lady Tigers down the stretch.
TSU was trailing 11-9 when a lay-up by I'mani Davis sparked a 6-0 run that put the Lady Tigers on top, 15-11. At the end of the opening quarter, TSU led 17-13.
EKU scored the first four points of the second frame to pull even before a Jayda Johnson jumper got TSU on the board. The bucket by Johnson sparked a rally that gave the lead back to the Lady Tigers and forced a timeout by the opponent.
Out of the break, however, TSU scored four more points to move ahead by double-digits. Over the next two minutes, EKU answered with a rally of its own and cut the deficit down to just three points, 29-23, with 1:19 left to play in the half. The Colonels buried a triple shortly before the half ended to make the score, 29-all at the break. EKU outscored TSU 9-2 to close out the quarter.
Although both teams competed, Eastern Kentucky controlled the tempo early in the third quarter. The Colonels started the stanza with a 6-1 run before building a 41-36 advantage. TSU continued to battle and pulled even behind buckets from Diamond Beatty and Tiana Parker.
In the fourth period, the teams traded buckets before EKU seized the momentum. TSU suffered through nearly a four-minute scoring drought and was forced to use a timeout after falling behind, 55-47, with just over six minutes remaining.
Another two minutes passed and TSU's scoring troubles continued. EKU increased its advantage to 57-47 before Tia Wooten connected in the paint to finally end TSU's six minute lull.
TSU continued to fight and closed the gap to five points with 1:06 remaining and then again with 34.4 seconds left. On the next play, Kaliya Griffin drained her first three-pointer of the game to make the score, 62-60, in favor of EKU with 29.3 seconds left.
TSU had to foul and EKU made both freebies. The Lady Tigers scored on their next possession and once again it was a two-point game.
After another foul, EKU made two more free-throws and essentially put the game out of reach.
Tennessee State returns to action on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at Tennessee Tech. Game time is set for 6 p.m. in Eblen Center.
#BigBlueRising
