Lady Lions fall to Wildcats

Paine squandered its hopes of winning the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Tuesday night.

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With an 80-66 loss to Fort Valley State at Carter Gym, the Lady Lions extended their losing streak to three games and dropped out of the regular-season title race.

Just a week ago, Paine appeared set to win its first-ever league championship. But a loss to conference co-leader Tuskegee on Saturday put the Lady Lions' chances in peril. Tuesday's defeat slammed the door shut. Paine now will play its final two games for conference tournament positioning.

"I'm not really sure what's going on with us now," Paine coach Selina Kohn said. "When you're winning, everything is fine. We just have to regroup."

Meanwhile, the Lady Wildcats (19-7, 14-3) can finish no worse than second in the conference. Fort Valley State is tied atop the SIAC with Tuskegee (16-9, 13-3) but needs the Golden Tigers to lose one of their final two to win the regular season championship.

"We needed this win," Fort Valley State coach Lonnie Bartley said. "Hopefully, somebody can beat Tuskegee."

Paine (14-10, 12-4) did itself in early when it opened the game flat. The Lady Lions shot 26 percent from the field - their third consecutive poor shooting night.

Savoyia Barrett scored a team-high 18 points, while Melissa Andrews added 11. But Paine's frontcourt players had trouble scoring inside, missing easy shots close to the basket.

"That's been a critical part of our offense all season," Kohn said. "We have to spend more time with our post players on finishing plays."

Fort Valley State finished off Paine in the first half. The Lady Wildcats used dribble penetration to get inside the paint and get to the free-throw line. Fort Valley went 10-for-12 from the stripe to take a 14-8 lead.

Sherika Tarpkins scored eight of her game-high 21 points in the final 2:37 of the half. Fort Valley State built a 42-26 advantage at the break.

"We were trying to take control early, because Paine had lost its last two games," Bartley said. "And Paine's crowd is so tough. They never sit down and shut up."

Paine managed to pull within 54-44 on a Barrett jumper with 9:58 remaining. But the Lady Lions could not pull any closer.

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.

FORT VALLEY STATE (19-7, 14-3)-AMANDA RAY 4-13 11-12 19, SHEKIYA TARPKINS 5-14 4-5 15, SHANIKA CARTER 0-2 8-10 8, SHERIKA TARPKINS 5-15 9-11 21, DEBORAH JONES 2-5 2-3 6, AKEILA TRIPP 0-1 0-0 0, NICHOLE BOLSTON 0-4 0-0 0, JOHNIKA PRICE 0-2 0-2 0, KRYSTLE SCOTT 1-2 0-0 2, SHARI GRIGGS 2-2 1-1 4, KRISTINA GREEN 2-3 0-0 4. TOTALS: 21-63 35-44 80.

PAINE (14-10, 12-4)-KISHA LUCETTE 2-8 1-4 5, KORISA PEARSEY 0-8 0-1 0, MELISSA ANDREWS 2-7 6-6 11, CHANTAL MURRAY 0-4 0-0 0, YASHIKA CUNNINGHAM 1-3 0-0 2, STEPHANIE REED 0-0 0-0 0, SAVOYIA BARRETT 6-18 3-4 18, KENDRA WILLIAMS 2-13 4-5 9, AKIA STANTON 2-4 2-2 6, JESSICA PARKER 2-5 1-2 5, MARIA VILLA 1-1 0-2 2, VELVET KING 3-8 2-3 8, DEENA ALLEN 0-0 0-0 0, KENYELL HUTCHINS 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21-81 19-29 66.

HALFTIME: FORT VALLEY STATE 42-26 3-POINT GOALS: FORT VALLEY STATE 3-14 (SHEK. TARPKINS 1-5, SHER. TARPKINS 2-6, BOLSTON 0-2, PRICE 0-1), PAINE 5-18 (PEARSEY 0-1, ANDREWS 1-2, MURRAY 0-2, BARRETT 3-4, WILLIAMS 1-9). REBOUNDS: FORT VALLEY STATE 50 (RAY 14), PAINE 66 (KING 12). ASSISTS: FORT VALLEY STATE 10 (RAY 4), PAINE 12 (PEARSEY 4). TURNOVERS: FORT VALLEY STATE 13, PAINE 22. FOULS: FORT VALLEY STATE 23, PAINE 25. FOULED OUT: JONES. A-346.