COLUMBIA, S.C. | Rachel Brownlee posted a game-high 21 points for Tuskegee, but it wasn't enough to hold off the second half surge of the 24th-ranked Benedict Tigers as the Tigerettes fell 70-58 on the road at HRC Arena in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) action Saturday afternoon.
 
Tuskegee (1-9, 0-2 SIAC) jumped ahead early over Benedict in the opening quarter, scoring nine of the first 11 points of the game to take a 9-2 lead with 6:44 to play in the opening quarter. They continued to hold the lead throughout the opening quarter, stretching it to nine at 20-11 following a lay-up from Tyler Everett with 14 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
 
In the second quarter, the Tigerettes continued to hold the lead into the first media timeout as they stretched the game out to their biggest lead of the contest at 10 (29-19) on a jumper from Brownlee. Once the lead went to 11 at 30-19, following a free throw from Everett with 4:23 to play in the half, Benedict went on a 12-2 run to close out the half with Tuskegee leading 32-31.
 
Benedict (13-1, 3-1 SIAC) opened the second half on a 14-2 run into the first media timeout to take a 43-34 lead. The Tigerettes continued to fight back for the remainder of the third quarter as they held Benedict without a point for the final 2:24 of the third quarter as they trailed 49-37 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
The Tigerettes were able to trim the lead to single digits with 7:02 remaining in the game on a pair of free throws from Brownlee, trimming the lead to 53-44. The two teams traded baskets, with Demetries McNealey driving in for a lay-up to trim the lead back to single digits at 55-46 with 6:09 to play in the game. That is as close as Tuskegee would get as Benedict pulled away late for the conference win.
 
Brownlee finished 8-of-21 shooting from the floor, and 5-of-9 from the free throw line en route to her fourth 20-point of the season for the Tigerettes. She also grabbed six rebounds for Tuskegee in the loss. McNealey led a trio of players with eight points each, with Ashley Johnson and Everett each adding eight points – with Everett adding a game-high eight rebounds.
 
Tuskegee shot 38.2 (21-of-55) percent from the floor and 60 (3-of-5) percent from beyond the arc. The Tigerettes also shot 48.1 (13-of-27) percent from the free throw line, while forcing 17 Benedict turnovers.
 
KaDeeja Vaughn led three players in double figures for Benedict with 16, while Terri Jacobs added 14 and Regime McCombs 13 points.
 
Tuskegee travels to Orangeburg (S.C.) to face Claflin University Monday night at 5:30 pm (est) in the final game of the two-game South Carolina road trip.
 
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