COLUMBIA, SC – The Fort Valley State University women's basketball team (FVSU) (3-20; 3-11) dropped another Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) contest to Benedict College (BC) (7-14; 7-6) 97-57 Monday night in Columbia.
FVSU went to halftime down 42-30 but was unable to get any momentum going in the third or fourth quarter.
Alicia Franklin led three Lady Wildcats in double digits with 13-points and five rebounds, while
Amiah Height chipped in 11-points, three steals and hit 5 of 8 free throws.
Keaundra Cox and
Jazmin Williams grabbed eight and seven rebounds.
BC outrebound FVSU 45-36 while forcing the Lady Wildcats into 23 turnovers. In return, BC picked up 25-points off turnovers. FVSU shot 28.9% (13-45) from the field, 25.0% (3-12) from behind the arc and 73.7% (28-38) from the free throw line. BC made 40.8% (31-76) of their shots from the floor, 31.8% (14-44) in 3-pointers and 72.7% (16-22) from the foul line.
Ay'Anna Bey led the Lady Tigers in scoring with a game-high 21-points and Ayanna Armstead added 20-points. Mikeisha Moore and Shirvel Luke hit 15 and 11-points. Bey and Andresha Smith pull down nine boards each.
BC jumped out to an 8-point lead early in the first quarter.
Nola Carter's two free throws cut the margin to 16-14 with 1:45 left in the quarter. The Lady Tigers ended the quarter up 19-14. In the second quarter, BC went on a 15-2 run to increase the lead to 31-18. The Lady Tigers continued to build their lead to 15 (39-24). With 16 seconds on the clock, Height made two free throws to send BC to intermission up 42-30.
The Lady Tigers went up by 25 (67-42) in the third quarter off a 25-12 run and never looked back as they hit the 35-point mark in the fourth quarter.
FVSU will return home for a Saturday night matchup with Paine College on Senior Night in The Valley. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.