ALBANY, GA – The Fort Valley State University Lady Wildcats (FVSU) (3-17; 3-9) held on for the 66-65 win over Albany State University (ASU) (10-10; 6-4) Saturday evening at The Arena at West Campus-Albany. The win marks the first of the season over a team with a winning record.
Alicia Franklin and
Kaylan West tied for the lead in scoring with 16-points each. West and Franklin had seven and six rebounds while Franklin scored on four baskets from the floor, made four three-point shots and dished out six assists. West finished by making six shots from the field and went four-of-five at the foul line.
Nola Carter led FVSU with a team-high nine rebounds and scored 14-points while making 6-of-8 free throws and led all players with seven assists.
Antonia Jones added 10-points and
Jazmin Williams grab six boards.
Both teams grabbed 44 rebound apiece, while ASU outscored FVSU 30-20 in the paint, ASU scored 24-points to FVSU's 18-points off turnovers. ASU hit 10-points more than FVSU's three on second-chance shots while both teams got 16-points from their bench. FVSU shot 40% (22-55) from the floor, hit 41.2% from behind the arc and shot 62.5% (15-24) from the free throw line. FVSU gained their largest lead of 19 at the 2:41 mark in the third quarter.
Kayla Green led the Lady Rams with 22-points and Elesha Foster had a game-high 14 boards and 10-points. Alexandria James added 12-points and Achanti Layfield added 10. ASU held a seven-point lead in the second quarter with 9:40 before intermission.
ASU started the game off with a 5-0 lead.
Keaundra Cox hit a three-pointer for the Lady Wildcats to close the gap to 3-5. Carter's free throw cut the score to 3 (4-7) but the Lady Rams added two more points for a 9-4 lead. With 2:09 remaining, Carter made two free throws for a 6-9 score. Then, Ashley Johnson's three-pointer would give ASU the 12-6 advantage. Franklin's three-point basket closed out FVSU's scoring in the first quarter for a 9-14 score.
West started FVSU's comeback in the second quarter with 8:59 to go. FVSU would overcome the five-point deficit and outscore ASU 20-5 in the quarter to take a 10-point (29-19) lead to intermission.
FVSU continued to maintain their 10 (36-26) lead in the third quarter with 5:42 left. Once again, West's drained two free throws to give FVSU their largest margin of 17 (45-28) with 3:06 to go. Carter made two foul shots with 2:41 to go for a 19-point (47-28) advantage. FVSU ended the third quarter up by 13 (48-35).
Kayla Green (ASU) cut FVSU's lead to 12 (52-40) with 8:43 left in the game. Green made two more free throws for a 52-42 score with 8:04 on the clock. FVSU's
Amiah Height's layup made the lead 14 (56-52) again with 7:05 remaining. West took the lead back to 16 (58-42) at the 6:28 mark. With 3:07 left, the Lady Rams started a comeback down 62-48, then, cut the lead by 5 (64-59) with 1:01 left in the game. Franklin managed to hit two free throws since they had not scored since the 3:07 mark. ASU's Elesha Foster's layup cut the lead to 3 (64-61). Then, with 25 seconds on the clock, West made the front end of two free throws for a 65-61 lead. ASU made two free throws with 16 seconds for a 2-point (65-63) game. Franklin went to the foul line and made one-of-two free throws for a 3-point (66-63) lead. ASU's Alexandria James' layup with 3 seconds on the clock made it a 1-point (66-65) game.
The Lady Wildcats next game is Wednesday, January 24
th in Fairfield, Al., as they take on the Lady Golden Bears of Miles College. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. (CST).
