FAIRFIELD, Ala. — With another SIAC West Division title in sight, No. 22
Miles wasted little time in overpowering
Spring Hill on Monday night. The Lady Bears started the game on a 19-2 run and never looked back, knocking off the Badgers for the 12th straight time in a 76-51 win. The victory clinched the division for the third consecutive year and the No. 1 seed for the SIAC Tournament in two weeks.
Freshman guard
Samarian Franklin had nine points and a school-record 16 assists - the most in a single-game by a SIAC member in more than 15 years and the second-most in all of Division II this season.
Jaylen Pleasant continued her hot shooting with a game-high 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting on 3-pointers.
Makayla Rieves added a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Miles (21-4, 19-3 SIAC) scored 38 points off of 25 Badger turnovers in the rout.
Pleasant drilled a 3-ball on the first shot of the game, Franklin followed shortly thereafter and
Shannon Niles banged home a third in the first four minutes of the game. Consecutive buckets by
Mya Millner gave Miles a 19-2 lead at the 4:27 mark of the opening period. The lead was just nine at the end of the first but a basket by Rieves and another triple from Pleasant in the first 45 seconds - both on dimes from Franklin - had the advantage back into double digits at 28-14 and Spring hill never got any closer.
Franklin got her 10th and 11th assists on back-to-back possessions as she fed Pleasant for two more 3-pointers and a 52-26 lead early in the third quarter. The lead got as large as 29 points on several occasions in the second half, the last time coming on Franklin's final assist - this one to
Tawana Nevels with 2:39 remaining to give Miles a 76-47 lead.
The Lady Bears are back in action on Thursday when they host SIAC East-leading Edward Waters at 5:30 p.m.
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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 (HBCUs) 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 nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.