TUSKEGEE, Ala. | The Tuskegee University women's basketball team battled back from 17 down in the first half to the University of North Alabama, before falling to Lions 70-65 Saturday night at Chappie James Arena in the season opener.
Tuskegee (0-1) trailed by 17 late in the first half, and battled back to take the lead with 7:24 to play when
Rachel Brownlee connected on a jumper in the lane to give the Tigerettes their first lead at 54-52. The two teams traded baskets until Tuskegee went on an 8-0 run over the span of three minutes to take their biggest lead of the game at 62-54 with 4:01 remaining in the contest. However, North Alabama went on an 8-2 run themselves to tie the game at 64-all with 1:44 to play in the contest on a lay-up from KeKe Gunter.
The two teams traded baskets again over the next minute until North Alabama took a 66-65 lead with 26 seconds remaining, and were able to put the game away with free throws in the final seconds.
Brownlee extended her streak to 26 consecutive games in double figures, pouring in 15 with seven rebounds before fouling out with just under a minute to play.
Taylor Miller scored 12, while
Ashiala Jackson added 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench. The Tigerettes shot 41.9 (26-of-62) percent from the floor, while not hitting a three-pointer in the contest. They also shot 72.2 (13-of-18) percent from the free throw line, while winning the rebounding battle 41-39.
Ivy Wallen led all scorers with 23 for North Alabama, while Gunter added 15 and Jaclyn Heath 14 for North Alabama who shot 39.6 (21-of-53) percent from the floor. They also shot 19.2 (5-of-26) percent and 62.2 (23-of-37) percent from the free throw line.
Tuskegee returns to action against UAH tomorrow night in the final game of the Regional Challenge, beginning at 6 pm. The game will be carried by the Tuskegee Digital Network.
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