FINAL BOX
Final Score: Tennessee State 62 - Arkansas State 68
Records: TSU (0-5) – ASU (3-3)
Venue: First National Bank Arena
Location: Jonesboro, Ark.
Jonesboro, Ark. --- In a hard fought battle, the Tennessee State University women's basketball team fell to Arkansas State, 68-62, Thursday night in First National Bank Arena.
Tennessee State fell to 0-5 while Arkansas State improved to 3-3 on the season.
TSU battled the entire night and shot 45.6 percent from the field but struggled from the free-throw line.
Tia Wooten finished with 23 points and eight rebounds while Kaliya Griffin scored 11.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- TSU Leaders
- TSU outrebounded A-State 41-38 and held the advantage in second chance points, 22-14
- TSU made 15-of-27 from the free-throw line
HOW IT HAPPENED
- TSU trailed 7-3 when a bucket from Taylor Roberts sparked an 11-2 run that put the Lady Tigers on top, 14-9.
- The Lady Tigers went without a bucket for the last 2:32 of the period and led, 14-13, heading into the second frame
- The game was tied when A-State used a spurt to go up 32-28 just before halftime.
- TSU managed to pull even again but A-State closed out the third quarter with a 9-1 run to move ahead, 51-43.
- In the fourth stanza, the home team built a double-digit advantage but TSU continued to chip away at the lead.
- TSU cut the deficit down to just three-points with 3:01 remaining and cut it down to four with 24 seconds left but that would be as close as the Lady Tigers would get.
GAME NOTES
- TSU falls to 2-2 in the all-time series vs Arkansas State
- Tia Wooten scored in double-digits for the 5th consecutive game
- Kaliya Griffin knocked down three triples in the contest
- Taylor Roberts was held to single digits in scoring for the first time this season
- Maxine Beard pulled down a team second-best seven rebounds
QUOTES
Head Coach Jessica Kern
“We competed all the way to the end. A great effort by Tia Wooten, she's been consistently carrying us. Kaliya Griffin, its nice to have her back, she hit some big buckets at some big times. I like our effort tonight. Its very difficult, I know, when you're not in the win column for kids to just keep coming back for more but we're encouraged. We're consistently staying encouraged.”
-Overall thoughts on the game
“We wanted seven made threes tonight, that was our goal…and we made seven. From the field, we limited them to 1-for-9 from the three-point line so we're making teams work extremely hard. We're doing the right stuff, eventually we'll turn the corner. These kids are believing and they're locked in. We're getting there.”
-On the positives from the game
UP NEXT
- TSU returns to action on Saturday, Dec. 9 versus Fisk. Game time is set for 6 p.m. in the Gentry Center.
#BigBlueRising
