Day's Late Free Throw Pushes Tigers to First MSC Win

GEORGETOWN, Ky. – The (RV) Georgetown College women's basketball team (16-3, 1-2 MSC) picked up its first Mid-South Conference win 64-63 over (RV) Cumberland University (14-5, 0-3 MSC) in Davis-Reid Alumni Gym on Saturday afternoon. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
A slow start got things kicked off before Daysha Reid got the offense started with a layup. Daisy Gale's 3-pointer on the next possession made it a 5-0 game. Georgetown stretched its early lead to 10-2 before a pair of baskets from the visitors made it a four-point game at the media break. Gale connected for another 3-pointer with 3:44 to go in the first before the Tigers' offense stalled. Cumberland closed the frame on a 9-0 run to take a 17-13 lead into the second.

Addesa Miller sank a 3-pointer to open the second quarter, which made it a one-possession game. The Tigers trailed by one on three different occasions in the opening minutes before tying the game at 21-21 at the 5:38 mark. Five points from Haley Dillman, in fact, gave the Tigers a 25-21 lead and forced a Phoenix timeout. Down the stretch, Reid made one free throw, but the Phoenix scrounged up a 28-26 halftime advantage.

After trailing by as many as eight points in the opening stages of the third, the Tigers needed the better half of five minutes to tie the game at 38-38. As the pace of play picked up, so did the foul shooting as Georgetown was seven of 10 from the line in the third. The Tigers outscored the Phoenix by five in the third and took a 52-49 lead into the fourth.

The opening minutes of the fourth quarter proved to set the stage for an interesting finish. Laisha Lazu's foul shot tied things at 58-58 with 4:43 to play, and Georgetown did not score for another minute and a half. Gale found the bottom of the net off a free throw, and Georgetown faced a 62-59 hole with 2:33 to go. Daysha Reid sank a clutch shot from distance to tie things at 63-63 with just 35 seconds remaining before Jordan Day iced the game at the free throw line with 1 second to go.

THE TEAM 
Georgetown shot 32.2% from the field. The Tigers were 10-32 (31.3%) from deep and were 16-28 (57.1%) at the free-throw line. GC was outrebounded by CU, 55-40. The Tigers led in assists, 11-6, while also picking up five blocks. CU had six steals while the Tigers created five.

THE PLAYERS
* Daisy Gale collected a game-high 23 points with 11 rebounds.
* Daysha Reid had 16 points and two.
* Haley Dillman added seven points off the bench and grabbed one rebound.

UP NEXT
The Tigers are on the road against #14 Cumberlands (16-3, 1-2 MSC) on Thursday, January 22.

Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. against the Patriots in the O. Wayne Rollins Center.