FORT VALLEY, Ga. – In front of a capacity home crowd, the Wildcats' resilience was on full display. After trailing by as many as 13 points in the first 12 minutes, Fort Valley State stormed back and punctuated the women's basketball victory with perfect free throw shooting down the stretch for the 63-56 victory over Albany State.

FVSU misfired on all 10 first-quarter shots from the field and saw themselves down 16-3 at 8:13 in the second period. ASU (5-21/5-12 SIAC East) saw its advantage dwindle down to two, 34-32, heading into the final 10 minutes. The Wildcats continued its drive for the win and went on a key 13-2 run in the middle of the final quarter for a 49-40 lead. The Lady Rams cut then deficit down to three tallies three times before Aaniyah Allen drained a 3-pointer with 1:02 left for a six-point, 58-52, edge and the home team connected on all five free throws in the final 23 seconds to seal the comeback.

With the win, FVSU improves to 13-9 on the year and ties the most wins for the program since it finished 13-14 four years ago in the 2019-20 campaign.

Allen finished with a team-high 20 points with a perfect 9 of 9 from the foul line to go with six rebounds and three steals. Shekinah Rachel was 7 of 8 from the charity stripe for 17 points along with six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a pair of steals. Ayani Cockrell pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and added nine points. Taylor Addison also had nine points and three rebounds. Cori Barnes and Ace Stevenson contributed three points each.

As a team, FVSU was 0 for 10 from the field in the first quarter and 4 of 26 for the half. The numbers had to go up and did in the second half where it was 4 of 15 in the third frame and the best 10 minutes of 9 of 14 in the fourth. The Wildcats were also 22 of 29 from the free throw line on the evening and 12 of 13 in the fourth period.

Keyra Peterson paced ASU with 15 points.

FVSU's Rachel tied the game at 1-1 with a free throw at 9:12 and then Cockrell made a pair from the line with 7:20 for a 3-1 edge. From there, ASU ran off the final 13 points in the first period and added the opening bucket of the second quarter. The visitors would lead the game for the next 30:32 until a Rachel pair of free throws with 6:19 left in the game made it 40-38.

FVSU starts its final two games of the regular season, both on the road, next Saturday afternoon, Feb. 24, in a 1 p.m. tip at Edward Waters.

-Wildcats-