FORT VALLEY, Ga. – As much as the Wildcats coasted on Saturday afternoon, they were frigid from the floor and had to dig themselves out of a huge deficit Monday evening. Allen University took a 21- point lead to the half and had to fend off a Fort Valley State furious comeback as the second half progressed to hold on for a 66-58 women's basketball win.
Allen (9-13/5-11 SIAC East) netted the final four points of the opening quarter for an 8-point advantage and kept the momentum to its apex of a 21-point margin, 37-16, heading into intermission. FVSU (12-8/10-6 SIAC East) used the first six minutes of the third period to work its way back into the contest at 41-32. The Wildcats kept the pressure on in the final quarter until a Shekinah Rachel layup pulled them within six points, 56-50, at 1:31. Ayani Cockrell sank a free throw with 1:18 showing for a 57-52 margin. A Taylor Addison 3-pointer with 43 seconds and a Jameisha Williams trey at 16 seconds left pulled FVSU to within six tallies two more times, 61-55 and 64-58, but the home team fell short of the full comeback.
Cockrell paced the Wildcats on the night with 15 points on 4 of 9 field goals to go with four rebounds. Despite foul trouble in the first half, Aaniyah Allen scored her 10 points in the second half while she had six assists, three steals and two boards. Rachel chipped in 11 rebounds, eight points, six steals, three assists and a blocked shot. Addison and Williams both hit two of three 3-point attempts for six points while Caly Cage had five points.
As a team FVSU was ice cold in the first half where it made only 4 of 29 shots (13.7%) and improved it to 44.7% (17 of 38) in the second half to allow it to have a potential comeback chance.
Both Kashay Hankerson and Tatanyi Morris tallied 12 points apiece in the Yellow Jackets win. Allen was able to go out to the large first-half lead on the strength of making 15 of 29 attempts (51.7%).
Camryn Oneill hit the game's opening jumper and Addison followed with a 3-pointer for a 5-0 home lead only 47 seconds into the contest. Allen answered with the next seven tallies and never trailed again the rest of the night. Leading 14-10, the visitors netted the last two buckets for an 18-10 score after a period.
Following a Cockrell free throw, FVSU trailed by double digits at 21-11 with 8:51 in the second quarter. Allen put together a 10-0 over the next five minutes and opened a 31-11 advantage. The difference grew by a point to 37-16 at intermission.
FVSU will have the rest of the week for its rematch for Winter Homcoming on Saturday evening (Feb. 17) at 6 p.m. against Albany State.
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