Miles (22-6, 15-4 SIAC), the west division second seed, and
Kentucky State (21-6, 16-4 SIAC), west division first seed, punched their tickets to the final round on day seven of the 2024 SIAC Basketball Tournament presented by Cricket.
In a game of momentum swings, Miles topped
Savannah State (20-6, 15-4 SIAC), the east division first seed, 68-55 in overtime.
The Lady Bears jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first quarter and continued to extend their lead to 17 points early in the second quarter before the Lady Tigers were able to cut the lead to 11 points at halftime. The east division regular season champions, slowly chipped away at the deficit in the third quarter before taking the lead, 48-47, for the first time since the opening minutes of the game midway through the fourth quarter when
Jacquece Alston scored on a fast break.
The final period in regulation saw three lead changes before Miles’
Feliah Greer tied the game at 55 from the free throw line with 1:01 on the clock. The Lady Bears had the opportunity to regain the lead with the clock stopped, but Greer missed the second free throw attempt sending the game to overtime.
Savannah State showed signs of slowing down prior to overtime, failing to make a field goal in the final five minutes of regulation. When the offensive slump carried over into overtime, the Lady Bears struck fast going on a 13-0 run in the extra time to extend their postseason one more day.
Four out of Miles’ starting five ended the game with double digits in the scoring column, and
Iemyiah Harrisled the pack with 29 points.
Tederia Ashley and Greer both recorded double-doubles with 10 points each and 13 and 10 rebounds respectively.
Kentucky State (21-6, 16-4 SIAC), the west division first seed, and
Fort Valley State (15-11, 13-7 SIAC) ), the east division second seed, played a closely contested first half before the Thorobreds got in the drivers seats and commanded the third quarter leading the team to the 63-52 victory.
The Wildcats started the second half with a four-point lead, when Kentucky State went on a 14-8 point run to take a 40-38 lead with 5:11 remaining in the period. After regaining the lead, the Thoroghbreds never looked back outscoring Fort Valley State 22-10 in third quarter.
Taleah Dilworth led Kentucky State in the team’s semifinal campaign with 18 points and four assists.
Gracen Kerr was the second leading scorer with 11 points and three rebounds. Overall, the Thorobreds dominated scoring 22 points on turnovers and 34 points in the paint.
The two regular season west division co-champions will meet in the final on Sunday at noon in Enmarket Arena to complete for the 2024 SIAC tournament title. The championship final will be the third time the teams face each other this season. Miles won the late January matchup 70-61 and Kentucky State returned the favor a few weeks later defeating the divisional opponent 63-56.
The 2024 SIAC Basketball Tournament presented by Cricket championship game will be streamed on ESPN+. Visit the tournament
championship page for more information, and follow the SIAC on
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About the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors seven men's and six women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.