Rock Hill, S.C. - On Friday afternoon, the Golden Tigers (17-13, 11-8 SIAC) advanced to the 2020 SIAC Basketball Tournament Championship after defeating longtime rival Miles College 67-62. 

With a big game on the line, a quad of Golden Tigers finished the afternoon in double figures. The group combined for 52 of the 67 Golden Tiger points and was led by Normesha Pitts who finished with 17 points and three rebounds. 

In the opening quarter of the semifinal matchup, the Golden Tigers jumped out to an early lead.  India Blakley put home a tough layup to make it 6-3. Despite the early lead, the Golden Bears kept the contest close the entire quarter. With 14 seconds to go in the opening period Najla Shamsid-Deen knocked down a three to close the quarter out 17-16. 

Both teams going into the second quarter were stuck in a defensive battle until Genesis Adams knocked down a jumper to make the score 19-16. Even with the slow start to the quarter, the Golden Tigers rolled on the remainder of the second quarter and closed out the half with an eight point lead 37-29. 

Moving into the second half, the Golden Bears began to gain some momentum after a 6-0 run to open the half. Although it was a quick start for the Golden Bears, both teams continued to battle throughout the third quarter. The Golden Bears gained their first lead of the game after Kierra Patrick drilled a jump shot making the score 44-43. 

While the Golden Bears had the lead in some of the third quarter, Pitts split a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of the third quarter to gain a one point advantage at the end of the third quarter 49-48.

Heading into the final quarter of play the battle was on for a trip to Saturday afternoon's championship game. During the fourth quarter the Golden Tigers and Golden Bears swapped the lead a combined four times. 

The game came down to the closing moments of the quarter. The Golden Bears nearly crawled back in but Katrice Jackson missed a layup with 12 seconds to go. After a foul to stop the clock, Pitts drilled two free throws to close out the game. 

Tuskegee will go on to play the winner of Lemoyne-Owen and Benedict on Saturday afternoon at 4 PM ET at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center. 

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