SIAC Women's Tournament Bracket
TUSKEGEE, Ala. – (February 27, 2010) – The Tigerettes split a pair of games, losing to Fort Valley State 69-64 at the James Center Thursday and routing Stillman 81-62 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and ended the regular season on a positive note.
The split gives the Tigerettes the No. 4 seed in the SIAC Tournament which begins Tuesday in Atlanta. The Tigerettes, 13-9 in the conference and 13-14 overall, will play No. 5 seed LeMoyne-Owen, 12-10 in the conference and 14-13 overall, Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET at Forbes Arena on the Morehouse College campus. The Tigerettes split two regular season games with the Lady Magicians as each won on its home court. The Tigerettes suffered an 87-82 loss in Memphis on Jan. 7 and posted a 70-55 victory at the James Center on Jan. 18.
Both teams are on a roll. The Tigerettes, 13-9 in the SIAC and 13-14 overall, have won five of their last six games while LeMoyne-Owen has won four of it last five.
"As a team, we're coming together,'' Coach Belinda Roby says. "We're playing as a team. When you have the type of team that's solid and can dominate and you have injuries, you have to readjust. We still have a decent team that can get the job done, the truth be told. They are playing well. You want your team to be playing well at this time of the year. Hopefully, everybody will stay healthy. If they do, our opportunity is just as good as anybody's.''
The Tigerettes have been injury-plagued this season. Senior guard Keyonnia Cook played five games and sophomore forward Nancy Aragbaye played seven before each tore an ACL was sidelined for the remainder of the season.
The Tigerettes hope to get a spark with the return of freshman forward Amelia Dorton, who missed 16 games after undergoing surgery for a torn meniscus. Dorton returned to the lineup Feb. 20 against Kentucky State and was scoreless in three minutes of action. She had 11 points in 25 minutes Thursday against Fort Valley State and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes against Stillman Saturday.
"That's going to help,'' Roby says of Dorton's return. "It's just a matter of time for getting in the gym and developing some stamina.''
Dorton came up empty in her effort to pull out a win for the Tigerettes, who second-half rally against Fort Valley State, the No. 1 seed in the tournament, Thursday fell short. Dorton missed a pair of three-pointers in the final 10 seconds, the last a desperation shot. The Tigerettes trailed by 16 points, 45-29, at the 14:17 mark, and they were still down 10 with 4 ½ minutes to go. Jennifer Anoka, who led the Tigerettes with 22 points, scored six straight points to cut Fort Valley State's lead to four points with 3:05 remaining. Anoka's two free throws with 90 seconds to play got the Tigerettes within three points of the lead, 67-64.
The Tigerettes got the ball back and the set went to Dorton for a three-point shot. Fort Valley State rebounded Dorton's miss. The Tigerettes fouled Takesha Riggs, who missed both foul shots, giving the Tigerettes one last chance to pull the game out, but Dorton's long three-point attempt was no good. Brandi Haynes added a pair of free throws for Fort Valley State's final points after Precious Friend fouled her.
The Tigerettes stormed past Stillman in the second half Saturday. They put the game away with a 16-0 run after Stillman had gotten to within a point of the lead. The Tigerettes never trailed in the second half after being on top 34-31 at the end of the first 20 minutes. Stillman led just once the entire game, 13-12, at the 11:29 mark of the first half.
Tequila Martin led the Tigerettes with 25 points. Anoka added 15.
