GC Pride WBB One Victory Away From Dancing

MARYVILLE, TN – The Greensboro College Pride women’s basketball team is one win away from dancing into the NCAA Division III Tournament. Senior Tiffani Stephens posted her first career triple double on Saturday afternoon as the Pride defeated the Panthers of LaGrange College, 61-57, to advance to the finals of the 2015 USA South Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Syerra Troutman got the Pride started quickly just fifteen seconds into the contest when she put Greensboro on top by three early with an old fashion and one play.

Following the three point play by Troutman, both teams traded baskets back and forth until the Panthers were able to establish four point lead at 18-14 with 10:22 to play in the half.

Greensboro then responded right back with two quick baskets by Stephens to tie the game at 18-18.

As the half began to tick away, LaGrange reestablished their four point advantage before the Pride cut their deficit to one point a 26-25 heading into the halftime break.

Coming out of the intermission period, LaGrange opened the half on a 4-0 run of their own to extend their advantage to five at 32-27. However, the Pride did not go away continuing to push the tempo of the game.

After facing the five point deficit, Greensboro then used a 13-7 run over the next seven minutes of play to regain the lead for the first time since the score was 22-21 in the first half at 40-39. During the run for Greensboro, Shanita Hampton chipped in five points including one three ball before Alexis Hite cashed in from long range to give Greensboro the lead.

Later in the period, the Pride was able to establish their largest lead of the contest at 56-48 with 2:47 to play following another big 7-0 run. Joslyn Spires got the run started for the Pride with a jab step layup from the left side before Hampton scored the final three points.

With time ticking down to less than a minute to play in the game, LaGrange was able to pull to within a single point on two separate occasions but Hampton connected on three of her next four attempts from the charity stripe to help preserve the four point victory.

“The kids played extremely hard for a full forty minutes today,” Pride Head Coach Randy Tuggle said following the victory. “Even though we were not able to knock down shots early in the game our girls did not lose their focus.”

Stephens finished the day with fifteen points, eleven rebounds, and school single game block record with ten. Senior guard Shanita Hampton also chipped in fifteen points.

Greensboro out rebounded the Panthers in the contest by an impressive, 55-43, mark. To go along with fifteen boards by Stephens, seniors Vonteece Hayes and Syerra Troutman each pulled down eight rebounds apiece.

With the win, the Pride improve their overall record to 23-4. Greensboro will face the winner of the second semifinal between the host Scots of Maryville College and the Panthers of Ferrum College. The championship game will take place tomorrow afternoon on the campus of Maryville College at 2:00 PM. For the most up to date information on Pride Athletics, continue to follow www.greensborocollegesports.com.