By: FVSU Office of Sports Information
In a rare Sunday afternoon game, the 3-2 Lady Wildcats of Fort Valley State University (FVSU) hosted the 1-4 Lady Panthers of Claflin University (CU) in basketball action in the HPE Arena. The conference match up presented the Lady Wildcats with an opportunity to extend their conference mark to 3-0 and for Head Coach Lonnie Bartley to get one game closer to his 600th career win.
In a game in which the Lady Wildcats never trailed, FVSU used the first half to build a lead which grew to 16 points with 11 minutes left before the break. However, with seven minutes remaining, the Lady Panthers managed to cut the FVSU lead to 10 points (29-19).
The 10 point margin would be as close as CU would get before halftime. After forcing 14 Lady Panther turnovers and converting 13 of 27 field goal attempts, the Lady Wildcats enjoyed a 17 point lead at halftime, 46-29.
In the second half, things got even better for the Lady Wildcats. In the first two minutes of the half, the FVSU lead had grown to 20 points, 52-32. With 12 minutes left, the lead sprouted to 23 points. At the four minute mark, the lead was up to 77-50. At the end of regulation the Lady Wildcats had registered an 80-57 win. And with that, the number of games left for Head Coach Bartley to reach his 600th career win had dwindled to two. His career mark is now 598-206.
FVSU was led in scoring by center Jasmine Birdsong who finished with a game-high 18 points. She also had six rebounds. Point guard Jayme Gilbert and forward Briana Shepherd had nine points each. Tylesha Brown led the Lady Panthers in scoring with 14 points.
The win elevates the Lady Wildcats overall record to 4-2 and they remain undefeated in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) play with a 3-0 mark. The loss drops the Lady Panthers to 1-5 (1-4 in SIAC play).
The Lady Wildcats are back in action on Tuesday night in Fairfield, Alabama when they meet the Lady Bears of Miles College in a SIAC contest. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m. (cst).
-Wildcats Athletics-
