MARIETTA, Ga. — The Life University women's basketball team fell to the Tigers from Stillman College Tuesday night, narrowly losing in the Southern States contest 69-66.
Prior to the game, five Running Eagles were recognized with Senior Day festivities as Haley Gant, Santavia Grant, Fapou Semebene, Caroline Singleton and Tierra Tullis were all honored for their contributions to the program.
The five honorees then started the contest earning a 6-2 lead by the seven-minute mark. The offense then fell stagnant as both teams struggled to score in the opening frame. Heading to the second, the game was knotted at ten apiece.
Second quarter action then saw the Running Eagles go ahead by three by halftime, 32-29.
With nine points already to her name, Tanit Calsapeu helped extend the Running Eagles' lead early in the third, but Life U's success quickly began to wane on both sides of the court. The field goal percentage maintained throughout the third, but after turning the ball over four times in the third quarter. The Running Eagles trailed 54-52 going into the fourth. The final quarter of the game continued down the same trajectory as the third with the Running Eagles continuing to struggle to find the bottom of the net. Stillman only outscored Life U. 15-14 in the fourth, but the turnovers continued to mount (8) in the final period eventually leading to key scoreless minutes in the loss.
Despite the three-point defeat, Kierra York was able to collect another solid performance on the season, scoring 18 points and grabbing eight boards. Tanit Calsapeu was impressive off the bench with 12 points, while Tierra Tullis found similar success in her starting role to remain a consistent offensive threat scoring 13.
As a team, Life U. went 19-of-52 (36.5%) from the field as opposed to Stillmans' 27-of-66 (40.9%) The Tigers also took advantage of takeaways, scoring 22 points off of Life University's 21 turnovers.
Up next, the Running Eagles will continue SSAC play against Brewton Parker College this Saturday, Feb. 11th at 12:00 PM.
