COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers built a 25-point lead in the third quarter, then held off a late rally by Claflin to knock off the Lady Panthers 71-67 in front of a packed Benjamin E. Mays HRC Arena and an ESPN3 audience.
MiKeisha Moore scored a season-high 16 points to lead the Lady Tigers, who improved to 8-15 overall and 8-7 in the SIAC. Claflin falls to 13-12 overall and 9-6 in the SIAC.
Claflin jumped to an early 9-2 lead at the start of the game, but Benedict came back and scored the next 10 points to grab the lead and never trailed again. After Claflin cut the lead to 12-11 with two free throws with 1:50 left in the first quarter, Benedict scored the final six points to take an 18-11 lead. The Lady Tigers pushed the lead to 40-20 at the half.
Benedict took its largest lead, 45-20, early in the third quarter after a pair of free throws by Moore. Benedict led 58-37 heading into the fourth quarter. Benedict had a 60-42 lead with 8:16 left in the contest when the Lady Panthers went on an 11-2 run to cut the lead under double digits, 62-52, after a free throw by Dominque Williams. Benedict had a 68-59 lead with 2:01 remaining when Claflin scored the next eight points, finishing the run with a 3-pointer by Deja Dickens to make it 68-67 with 48 seconds remaining.
Benedict ended the run with a layup by
Ay'Anna Bey with 35 seconds left for a 70-67 lead. Claflin missed a 3-pointer, and Bey made a free throw with six seconds on the clock for the final score.
Bey added 11 points and
Shanaissa White chipped in with 10 points.
Shirvel Luke grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
Benedict shot 40.9 percent from the floor, while Claflin shot 44.2 percent. Rebounding was nearly even with Benedict holding a 39-38 advantage. The big difference was at the free throw line, where the Lady Tigers made 13-of-18 (72.2 percent), while Claflin struggled at the line, making just 15-of-29 attempts (51.7 percent).
Williams led Claflin with 15 points.
Benedict was playing its final home game of the season. The Lady Tigers travel to face Paine College on Thursday and wrap up the regular season next Saturday with a rematch against Claflin in Orangeburg.
