BIRMINGHAM, AL – Senior forward Shekiya Tarpkins led the Lady Wildcats of Fort Valley State University to victory in the quarterfinals game over Miles College 81-65 Thursday afternoon at the Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham. With the win FVSU moved into the semifinals round and will play against Benedict College on Friday at 1 p.m. FVSU lost to Benedict at home in their only meeting of the regular season in January' 72-64.
 
With the win the Lady Wildcats improve their overall record to 10-16. Miles finished their season with a 15-12 overall record.
 
Tarpkins put up a game-high 32 points for FVSU and grabbed eight boards, dished out five assists, two steals and made 10-of-13 shots from the field, hit 2-of-3 shots from behind three point land and went 10-for-11 at the foul line.  Freshman guard Nola Carter led the Lady Wildcats with nine rebounds, scored six points and blocked a shot. Freshman point guard Daknequa White scored 22 points, had six rebounds, five steals and hit 6-of-9 free throws. Senior center Briunca Caldwell added seven rebounds and four points.
 
FVSU out rebounded Miles 49-47 and forced 16 turnovers. The Lady Wildcats gained 16 points off turnovers. The team scored 39 points from within the paint while picking up another 20 points off second chance shots. The lead changed five times and the game was tied twice.
 
Morgan Hardy led the Lady Bears with 16 points and 17 rebounds in the losing effect. Larian Scott added 15 points.
 
For the afternoon, FVSU hit 29-of-68 (42.6%) shots from the field, 5-of-14 (35.7%) 3-point shots and a hot 18-of-22 (81.8%) free throws. The shooting at the free throw line was the best all season.
 
Miles scored on 20-of-67 (29.9%) shots, 6-of-25 (24.0%) shots from behind the arc and made 19-of-31 foul shots.
 
The Lady Bears jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter and led by as much as 10 (15-5) points at the 1:56 mark. Tarpkins made two layups to cut Miles lead down, one at the 15 second mark 18-15 and the other with 2 seconds to make it a 1 (18-17) point score after one quarter.
 
White hit a 3-pointer to start the second quarter and gave FVSU their first lead 20-18 of the game. From there, the two teams went back and forth until FVSU took a 29-27 lead on Alicia Franklins' 3-point basket. Tarpkins' free throws with 2 seconds left sent the Lady Wildcats to halftime up 40-31.
 
In the third quarter, Miles could get no closer than four points 53-49 with 2:53 to go. Franklins' free throws increased the Lady Wildcats lead by 10 (61-51).
 
The Lady Wildcats owned the fourth quarter as they jumped out to as much as 16 points twice in route to their 81-65 win.