ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers advanced to the semifinals of the 2017 NCAA Division II women's basketball South Region tournament with a 71-60 victory over Valdosta State on Friday afternoon on the campus of Eckerd University.
MiKeisha Moore scored 21 points, hitting five 3-pointers, while Destiny Betts added 19 points to lead Benedict.
Benedict, the tournament's third seed, will face second-seed West Florida at 5 p.m. on Saturday. West Florida beat seventh-seed Nova Southeastern 66-57.
Benedict improves to 22-7 with its 16th straight victory. Valdosta State ends the season at 22-10.
The Lady Tigers held Valdosta State to 28.1 percent shooting in the game. The Lady Blazers' two leading scorers coming into the game – Madi Mitchell and Kenya Samone' Dixon – shot a combined 4-for-22 against the Lady Tigers. Benedict held Samone' Dixon, one of the nation's most accurate 3-point shooters, to a 1-for-9 performance from beyond the arc on Friday, one of her worst shooting performances of the season. Her five total points was a season low. Mitchell scored nine points, the first time she has been held under double digits in 17 games.
"I'm happy. This is a new team, we've got two returners," Benedict head coach James Rice said. "They really surprised me. They came out ready to play today."
Benedict took a 15-13 lead at the end of the first quarter after Michala Robinson scored on a layup. The Lady Blazers had a 22-17 lead with 6:24 left in the first half when the Lady Tigers went on a 12-0 run as Moore hit a pair of 3-pointers and a two-point jumper in that span. Benedict had a 31-25 lead at the break.
Benedict opened up the second half with a strong third quarter, outscoring Valdosta State 16-4 halfway through the third quarter for a 47-29 lead. Valdosta State trimmed the lead to single digits, 51-42, before Ziarra Harris scored on a layup before the end of the period.
Another 3-pointer by Moore gave Benedict a 60-42 lead with 8:21 left in the game, but the Lady Blazers cut the lead to 64-54 with 2:43 remaining. Harris scored on a wide-open layup with 1:22 left after a timeout and Robinson added two free throws for a 14-point lead with a minute left.
The Lady Blazers, the eighth-best rebounding team in the nation, outrebounded Benedict 45-36, including a 21-6 advantage in offensive rebounds.
