TUSKEGEE – Tuskegee women's basketball fell to a gritty Spring Hill team, 67-64 on Saturday afternoon inside the Chappie James Center in the final home game of the season.
In the first, Tuskegee (14-7, 11-6 SIAC) got off to a slow start, going 0-3 in the first five possessions. The Golden Tigers would start to settle down and produce some offense despite trailing 12-6 midway through the quarter but trailed 21-11 to end the quarter.
TU made up more ground in the second, outscoring the Badgers 16-12 behind four points, four rebounds, and two steals from
Sumaiyah Abdur-Rahim.
Brittney Bolin also added four in the period, as Tuskegee was down 33-27 at the half.
The Golden Tigers continued to fight back in the third, however could not gain much ground, allowing the Badgers to shoot 52.9 percent from the field in the quarter. Spring Hill stretched its lead to as many as 14 (50-36) at the 3:16-mark of the quarter and held a 54-44 lead heading into the fourth.
Tuskegee made the big run in the final quarter, finding themselves down six at the media timeout with just under eight minutes to play, and cutting the deficit to just three points at 54-51 following a three-pointer from Makayla Malik.
Minutes later, still down three,
Arielle McElroy hit a jumper outside the lane to pull TU within one (58-57). Following scores from both sides, Spring Hill went back up six, however the Golden Tigers failed to convert within the last few seconds and fell 67-64.
The Golden Tigers outscored SHC in points off turnovers (16-10), points in the paint (36-34), fast break points (16-14), and bench points (11-4). They finished the game with shooting splits of 39.1 percent (25-for-64) from the floor, 33.3 percent (4-for-12) from long range, and 76.9 percent (10-for-13).
Jasmine Manuel led Tuskegee offensively, finishing with her xx double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Bolin who added 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists in the loss.
Marta Duda led four double figure scorers for Spring Hill with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Claudia Garrido added 14, while Kellyn Hunter and Tiana Smith both added 11 points in the win.
The Badgers finished the game shooting 38.2 percent (25-for-68) from the floor, 26.3 percent (5-for-19) from long range, and 62.5 percent (10-for-16) from the free throw line. They also outscored TU in second chance points at 13-9.
Up Next
Tuskegee will return to play in a week, as the program will hit the road for the final regular season trip of the season, starting with Central State on Saturday, Feb. 24 in Wilberforce, Ohio.
How to Follow the Golden Tigers: For complete information on Tuskegee Golden Tigers Women's Basketball, visit
GoldenTigerSports.com and follow the team's social media channels on
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