Benedict women fall to Lee in first round of NCAA DII Tournament
JACKSON, Tenn. – The Benedict College Lady Tigers fell behind by 10 points in the first quarter and never could dig out of the hole as third-seed Lee University defeated sixth-seed Benedict 87-77 in the first round of the NCAA D2 Women’s Basketball Championship on Friday afternoon on the campus of Union University.
Benedict, the SIAC champion, ended its season at 23-8. Lee University, now 25-7, advances to the South Region semifinals against seventh-seed and 24th-ranked Valdosta State on Saturday evening. Valdosta State upset second-seed and 14th-ranked Tampa in another game on Friday.
Wykira Johnson-Kelly led the Lady Tigers with 25 points, helping to fuel a late-game rally when the Lady Tigers cut a 23-point fourth-quarter deficit to just six points, 83-77, with 16 seconds left. The Lady Flames closed out the game with four free throws in the final nine seconds.
Ay’Anna Bey finished her stellar Benedict career with 19 points and four rebounds. Ayanna Armstead scored 17 points and grabbed six rebounds in her final game. Shanassia White added 11 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.
“We ended up running into a real good team in Lee University,” said Benedict head coach James Rice. “Offensively, they have all the weapons out there. They’ve got multiple kids out there that can shoot the three ball. They pass the ball well. They run their offense.”
Halle Hughes and Julia Duncan led Lee with 19 points each. Camryn Grant had a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, as the Lady Flames out-rebounded Benedict 31-28, holding Benedict to a season-low 28 rebounds.
Lee forced 16 Benedict turnovers, and scored 25 points off turnovers. Benedict forced 17 turnovers, but scored only 14 points off turnovers. Benedict shot 43.3 percent (29-of-67), while Lee shot 53.8 percent (28-of-52).
The Lady Tigers had the early lead, as Johnson-Kelly hit a pair of free throws and Bey scored inside for a 4-3 lead. Benedict tied the game at 12 on a 3-pointer by Armstead, and Camryn Bostick scored a fast-break layup to tie the game again at 14. The Lady Flames scored the next eight points, getting a pair of 3-pointers during that spurt, and took a 28-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Benedict couldn’t make a run in the second quarter, and Lee held a 39-26 lead at the half. Lee held as much as an 18-point lead in the third quarter before the Lady Tigers cut the gap to 66-53 heading into the final quarter.
The Lady Flames used an early nine-point run, getting a pair of 3-pointers in that span, to open up a 21-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. The Lady Flames held their largest lead, 81-58, with 4:35 left to play before Benedict staged a late rally, going on a big 19-2 run to cut the lead to six points with 16 seconds remaining, but that was as close as they would get.
“It’s the work, the hard work they put in leading up to this game,” Rice said. “I guess they didn’t want this to be our last game. They tried to will us back in the game. We dug ourselves a hole, but they still wouldn’t give up. Just about every young lady on the court left it out there. I’m proud of them.”
