FridayFORT WAYNE, Ind. — An already historic season for the Stillman College women's basketball team continues to produce moments as the Lady Tigers collected an 83-79 Win over the #6 Seed University of Rio Grande Red Storm in the 2025 NAIA Opening Rounds Friday evening. 

The win marks the first tournament victory for the Lady Tigers. 

Jamariah Turner led Stillman with 22 points, six rebounds and four steals. Farrah Pearson posted 17 points and a pair of rebounds. 

Rapid Recap

The Lady Tigers and Red Storm battled to a 14-14 tie early in the opening quarter until Rio Grande pulled ahead to take a 20-14 lead with 1:06 on the clock. However, Raena Suggs hit a free throw with 39 seconds to put Stillman down 20-15 at the break. 

Rio Grande built a 13-point lead in the second quarter and led by as much as 12 points with 45 seconds before the half, but Farrah Pearson hit a layup with 18 seconds to go to cut the lead to 40-30 at the half. 

Stillman dominated the third quarter to the tune of 24-10 over the Red Storm. The Lady Tigers were up by as much as nine points when Leila Henderson made a layup to push the score to 52-43 with 2:36 on the clock. SC settled on a 54-50 lead to end the period. 

Then in the decisive fourth both teams held the lead, but only briefly for Rio Grande who took a 64-63 edge with 4:13 to play before Pearson responded with a three on the very next possession for the final lead change of the contest. The ballgame stayed close, but Stillman used free throws to close out the upset victory 83-79.

Notes and Numbers:
-With free throws being critical down the stretch, Stillman finished 82.9 percent (24-of-29) from the line. 
-Today marked the fourth time this season the Lady Tigers won while hitting five or fewer threes (5-of-20); SC now has a 5-3 record in those games. 
-Raena Suggs scored 13 points off the bench in 30 minutes of action. 
-Jaida Minter added 11 points and four assists.

Up Next:
Stillman College (26-5) will face the #14 Seed Indiana Tech (26-5) tomorrow at 1 p.m. CDT. Indiana Tech pulled an upset victory over the #3 Seed and hosts University of Saint Francis 64-60 to open action for the day.