Lady Bears wear down FVSU
Box Score
Morgan Hardy had a career-high in rebounds and
Javonne Brown showed flashes of her former self in Miles' 80-74 overtime win over Fort Valley State Monday night at Knox-Windham Gymnasium.
The win was the second straight and fourth in five tries for the Lady Bears (10-10, 5-4 SIAC), who are over .500 in conference play for the first time this season and have reached the break-even mark overall for the first time since Dec. 10. The Lady Wildcats had three players in double figures but all five of their starters fouled out of the game and they finished the game with just four players on the floor.
Brown, a redshirt junior who intends to graduate and finish her career this season, was a potent scorer for the Lady Bears when she arrived but two knee injuries - one major - have changed her role and, lately, has had her coming off the bench. But the Lady Wildcats could not contain her Monday night as she scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with two assists and two blocked shots. Eight of her rebounds were on the offensive end and helped give Miles a 29-6 advantage in second chance points.
While Brown was good on the boards, Hardy was unstoppable. She grabbed 18 rebounds - the most at Miles since
Shaquinta Sales grabbed as many last season against Stillman - and if not for a tough night at the free throw line (3-of-8), she'd have had another double-double. Instead, she had nine points along with two steals and a block.
Even with the strong play from Brown and Hardy, Miles trailed 35-34 at halftime and was down by six points with 3:13 left in regulation.
Larian Scott (14 points, five rebounds, four assists) would knock down a 3-pointer to get the rally started. A layup by Brown with less than 40 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter tied the score at 66 and two Scott free throws gave Miles a two-point edge.
But FVSU's Shekiya Tarpkins slid behind the Miles defense with three seconds left in regulation and the game went into overtime tied at 68. Down by two early in the extra period, Miles scored eight straight points to take command. With 1:19 left in overtime, Tarpkins became the sixth Lady Wildcat to pick up a fifth foul. For the remainder of the game, they played with four players but Miles had no need to take advantage and ultimately ran the clock out.
Tarpkins had 19 points, four rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks to pace Fort Valley State.
Alexis Jones had 15 points and
Victoria Sutton added eight points for Miles, which hosts Tuskegee on Saturday at Bill Harris Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
