HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Tennessee Southern stretched its winning streak to 14 games Thursday night with an impressive 81-68 road victory over No. 18 William Carey inside Clinton Gymnasium.
With the win, the Firehawks move to 20-4 overall and 12-3 in SSAC play, continuing one of the hottest runs in recent program history.
The contest featured six lead changes and five ties, and the Firehawks had to weather an early surge from the Crusaders. After Lauren Smith opened the scoring with a layup in the paint, Tennessee Southern battled through a back-and-forth first quarter and trailed 22-20 at the end of one.
In the second quarter, buckets inside from Ashley Dickey and a Silkiari Vazquez-Troche layup trimmed the deficit to one, and a Ramie Reid three-pointer tied the game at 29-29 with 2:28 left before halftime. Despite reclaiming a brief lead on a free throw from Abbilyn Teter, the Firehawks entered the locker room down 33-30.
Tennessee Southern flipped the game in the third quarter.
Dickey ignited the rally with back-to-back free throws and later knocked down a three-pointer to tie the contest at 41-41. Moments later, she buried another triple to give the Firehawks a 46-45 edge. Reid added a strong finish inside, and Vazquez-Troche converted in the paint to cap a 25-point third quarter that sent Tennessee Southern into the final period ahead 55-48.
The Firehawks shot 64.3 percent from the field in the third and 68.8 percent in the fourth quarter, turning a tight battle into a double-digit road win.
In the closing minutes, Reid scored on multiple paint touches to push the margin to 12, while Vazquez-Troche and Dickey continued to attack downhill. A late steal and buzzer-beating layup from Mycala Carney sealed the 13-point victory.
Dickey led the Firehawks with 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting, adding five rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Reid posted a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Vazquez-Troche finished with 17 points, five assists, four rebounds, three steals, and a block.
Smith contributed eight points and seven rebounds, Totten added five points off the bench, and Carney chipped in four points, including the final basket at the horn.
As a team, Tennessee Southern shot 50 percent from the floor and 41.7 percent from beyond the arc, outscoring William Carey 51-35 in the second half.
The Firehawks will close the regular season on the road at No. 19 Loyola.
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