BABSON PARK, Fla. - Four Stillman College starters scored in double-digts Friday afternoon to pace the Tigers to a 76-69 victory over Florida Memorial University in the first women's basketball SSAC/Sun Conference Challenge, hosted by Webber International University.
The Tigers (2-0) handed its fellow HBCU FMU Lions (1-1) their first loss of the season, now 1-1. Stillman will remain in Florida on Saturday, when the Tigers meet No. 6 Southeastern University Fire. SEU lost to Loyola University on Friday. Tip time is 1:30 p.m. EDT.
FMU was led in scoring by Aliyah Deen-Ahmad's 24 points, after shooting 8-fo-13 from the field and hitting all seven free throws. Chantel Barnett led the team's 25 bench points with 16 of her own.
Stillman opened the game with an 11-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes. It was 22-15 at the end of the opening quarter. FMU managed to take the lead once, using a four-point run with two minutes left in the first half, and led at the break, 39-38.
King regained Stillman's lead, 40-39, with an offenisve rebound and layup one minute into the second half. There were three lead changes and two ties over the next four minutes, before Warner hit back-to-back 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. Her personal 8-0 run created a 52-44 Stillman lead. It became a 10-0 lead before FMU fought back to make it a two-point game with 1:08 to play in the third.
Stillman maintained its narrow lead in the fourth quarter. With five minutes left to play, King stole the ball and scored on the other end to make it a nine-point game, 66-57. FMU cut it to three before Pearson and
Amaria Strong combined for a 6-of-6 free throw performance in the final minute.
