SAVANNAH, Ga. -- One look at the stats and the final score could leave one to believe that Miles defeated Savannah State in a veritable cakewalk Saturday morning at Tiger Arena.

But the Lady Bears' 68-55 win over the Tigers in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament semifinals was anything but that. Miles saw its 17-point lead melt in the fourth quarter but found a way to force overtime. From there, Savannah State did not score a single point as Miles (22-6) forced its way into the SIAC championship game for the second consecutive season, where they will play Kentucky State on Sunday at 11 a.m.

The Tigers (20-6), playing in front of a raucous home crowd, had taken a 51-47 lead midway through the fourth quarter. But Iemyiah Harris erased it right away, getting fouled as she drained a 3-pointer. The game was tied after she converted the free throw with 4:50 left in regulation. After a couple of wild pendulum swings, the teams were locked in to a battle many expected from two of the top teams in the conference.

The Lady Bears had a couple of opportunities to win in regulation. Down one with a minute left in the fourth, Feliah Greer was fouled on a shot attempt. She made the first but missed the second. Miles had the ball with less than 30 seconds remaining in the period and, with the shot clock off, had two different chances to take the lead. But a turnover snuffed out the first opportunity and after getting the ball back with 0.6 seconds on the clock, Greer could not get a shot off before the buzzer.

In overtime, though, it was all Lady Bears. After Savannah State missed two point-blank shots at the rim, Madison Lee (seven points, three rebounds) opened the scoring on the other end with a corner 3-ball that put Miles on top with 3:19 to go. On the next possession, Harris worked around a screen and got free at the top of the key for another triple and a 61-55 advantage midway through the extra period. 

Those long-range jumpers seemed to take the juice out of the Tigers and their crowd. The misses kept coming from their end and the Lady Bears went to work at the charity stripe, with Harris (game-high 29 points, five rebounds, three assists) and Imani Williams making 7-of-8 freebies to close out the contest.

At the start of the game, it did not appear the ending would be as compelling. After spotting Savannah State the first three points of the game, the Lady Bears would score the next 16 to take early command. Harris started the run with a 3-pointer and scored seven points during the run. The Tigers went more than seven minutes without a field goal and Miles would lead 19-7 at the end fo the first quarter. A 3-point play by Greer and an offensive rebound and putback by Williams (10 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, two steals, two assists) had the Miles advantage at 26-9 less than three minutes into the second quarter. A 3-point play by Tederia Ashley with a minute remaining before halftime still had the lead at 15 points before two late SSU buckets cut their deficit to 37-26 at the break.

Nyla Allen had 16 points and Mya Byrd added 11 to lead Savannah State. Ashley (10 points, 13 rebounds, three steals ) and Greer (10 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles for Miles.