Box Score Lady Marauders struggle down the stretch in loss to Benedict
COLUMBIA, South Carolina - The Central State Lady Marauders struggles offensively down the stretch of Thursday night's 93-79 road loss to Benedict College.
The Tigerettes opened the game on a 12-4 run but CSU responded with a 11-1 run to take a 15-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. Led by Destiny Betts and Darnetta Richardson led Benedict in the second quarter as BC outscored CSU, 23-18, to take a 36-33 lead into the break.
BC gradually built there lead to double-figures in the third quarter. Two Richardson free throws put the Tigerettes up 59-41 with 3:44 left in the quarter. The Lady Marauders chipped away at the deficit and scored 7 points in the final 27 seconds of the third quarter to cut the BC lead down to 66-60 heading into the final ten minutes of play.
The Tigerettes regained momentum, taking a 80-69 lead with 4:41 remaining. Sparked by three straight buckets from
Sierra Harley, CSU mounted a 10-0 run and trailed by just one point with 3:25 to go. Unfortunately for CSU, the final three minutes were one-sided in the favor of Benedict. The Tigerettes closed the game out on a 13-0 run to claim a 14-point victory.
Held scoreless in the final 3:25 of the game, CSU went 0 for 6 from the field while Benedict went to the free throw line eleven times and making seven attempts.
Betts had a tremendous night finishing with 29 points and 26 rebounds. Mikeisha Moore made 6 of 10 shot attempts from beyond the arc to finish with 21 points. Zairra Harris went 10 of 12 from the free throw line and recorded 18 points as Benedict improved to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in SIAC play.
Sierra Harley led CSU in scoring for the third straight game with 22 points, making 8 of 14 field goals.
Ghameerah McCullers came off the bench to score 16 points.Â
With Thursday's loss, the Lady Marauders have dropped their last three games and stand at 2-4 on the season and 2-0 in the conference.
The Lady Marauders will travel to Augusta, Georgia on Saturday to play Paine College.
Â
