AUGUSTA, GA – After losing 16 straight games, the Lady Wildcats have turned things around by winning their last two games. The Fort Valley State University (FVSU) Lady Wildcats (2-16; 2-6) won their second game of the season behind the scoring of Alicia Franklin's game-high 23-points as the Lady Wildcats overpowered Paine College (0-12; 0-7) 66-58 in Wednesday evening action at the HEAL Complex on Paine's campus.
 
Franklin made 7-of-16 baskets, 4-of-7 three-pointers, 5-of-6 free throws and dished out three assists. Amiah Height followed with 12-points and a team-high nine rebounds. Nola Carter and Kaylan West added 9 and 7-points each. Jazmin Williams came off the bench to block seven shots while adding six-points in 27 minutes of play.    
 
Zhane' Green led Paine with 14-points, Taylor Borum had a game-high 13 boards and Keondra Archie added 13-points.
 
The Lady Lions outrebounded the Lady Wildcats 54-44 while both teams would turn the ball over 19 times apiece.
 
FVSU made 36.8% (21-57) of their baskets, 33.3% (6-18) from behind the arc and hit 69.2% (18-26) of their free throws. Paine scored on 25.4% (17-71) shooting from the field, 11.1% (2-18) from 3-point land and 76.9% from the foul line.
 
The Lady Wildcats largest margin of 10-points came at the 5:27 mark in the fourth quarter, while Paine was up by 8-points in the first quarter. The Lady Wildcats outscored Paine 22-20 in the paint and received 10-points to 8 off turnovers.         
 
The Lady Lions went on a 12-9 run in the fourth quarter to cut the Lady Wildcats lead to 55-52 with 3:42 remaining in the game. Green's layup for Paine made the score 57-56 but this would be the closest the Lady Lions would get as FVSU scored the next nine points for the 66-58 win.
 
 
Paine scored the first eight points of the game before FVSU's Height would get the team on the board with back-to-back points off a jumper and a three-point baskets for a 5-8 score with 6:00 to go. Green increased Paine's lead to 10-5. Keaundra Cox's jumper made it 7-10 with 4:06 left in the first quarter. With 3:14 remaining, Antonia Jones' 3-pointer gave FVSU a 10-9 lead. Williams' layup increased the lead to 12-9, but the Lady Lions would tie the game at 12 with 2:33 left. Height's layup and free throw gave the Lady Wildcats a 15-12 advantage and finished the first-quarter up 15-13.
 
Second quarter, FVSU's Kaylan West made a layup to put the team up by 4 (17-13) with 9:37 on the clock. Timmons tied the game at 17, but FVSU's Jones' free throw put the Lady Wildcats back out front 22-20. Timmons put Paine back ahead 23-22. Cox came back and tied the game for FVSU at 23-23 with 2:44 left. Paine went back in front 26-23 with 1:14 on the clock. West made two free throws to bring the score to 27-26 FVSU's way with 57 seconds left. The Lady Wildcats carried a 27-26 lead to intermission.
 
The Lady Wildcats led by 9 (48-39) at the end of the third quarter. Paine went up 37-33 with 5:05 left before Franklin's 3-pointer would tie the game at 37-37 with 2:13 to go. Height's free throw gave FVSU the 38-37 lead again. Then, FVSU went on a 10-2 run to close out the quarter up 48-39.
 
The Lady Wildcats will not play again until Monday, January 15, 2018, as Clark Atlanta University comes to The Valley. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.