Lady Bulldogs Get Tripped Up by UT Southern

NASHVILLE—Zipporah Davis led three double-digit scorers, but it was not enough as the Fisk University Lady Bulldogs (2-3) fell to the UT Southern Lady Firehawks (1-4) 76-74 in non-conference action from the Henderson A. Johnson Arena on the campus of Fisk University.

Fisk outrebounded UTS 62-32 but committed 24 turnovers in the loss. The Lady Bulldogs were without point guards Laila Eliotti and Kierra Fulton, who were out with lower body injuries. Davis scored a game and season-high 24 points as UT Southern keyed on Lady Bulldog post Maya Buckhanon, who was held to 16 points but did grab 23 rebounds. 

First Quarter 18-15| Long Range Shooting Give Fisk an Early Edge

Fisk took an early 6-2 lead before UTS got going, taking a 10-9 lead on a Maggie Hale three-pointer on an assist from LaRose Morrow. The triple was part of a 10-2 run, making the score 15-9 and forcing Fisk to call a timeout. The timeout was timely as the Lady Bulldogs finished the quarter on a 9-0 run on three, three-point baskets, with two coming from Davis and one from Jordan Bailey.

Second Quarter 30-30| Late Quarter Turnovers Keep UTS in the Game

A mid-quarter spurt gave the Lady Bulldogs a six-point lead at 28-22 on a Davis basket with 2:20 left in the half. Southern capitalized on three Fisk turnovers to finish the half on an 8-2 run, tying the score on a Faith Eubanks three-point follow-up basket. Fisk committed nine turnovers in the quarter.

Third Quarter 59-54| UTS Controls the Quarter by Scoring 29 Points

The game was billed as a "Metro vs. Metro," and in the third quarter, former Metro Nashville Public School stars A'Niya Young (East Magnet and Cane Ridge) of Fisk and Morrow (Maplewood) of UT Southern didn't disappoint. Young scored two straight baskets early in the quarter to give the Lady Bulldogs a 35-34 lead. Morrow entered the game at 7:22, scored five points, and had a steal to stretch the UTS lead to 49-42.

After Southern stretched the lead to nine, a driving one-handed finger-roll layup by Mya Robinson seemed to ignite Fisk to get back in the game. Davis scored the last four points of the quarter to keep Fisk at striking range, entering the fourth quarter.

Fourth Quarter 76-74| Controversial No-Call Spoils Fisk's Comeback

UTS led the rest of the game to get their first victory of the season. Fisk didn't go away easy as it was Robinson once again coming up with a big shot, this time a three-point basket to make the score 63-61 Southern.

The Bulldogs couldn't seem to get closer until late when a Jayla Bibbs basket made the score 72-70 with 1:19 left. On the next possession, Bibbs got a steal, giving Fisk a chance to tie the game or take the lead. Davis' three-point try rimmed out, and Morrow grabbed the rebound. After two Bibbs fouls, Morrow went to the line; she hit the first, missed the second, and hustled to get the rebound.

Fisk forced a turnover by Takiyah Goff and called their final timeout with 21 seconds left. The Bulldogs called a play for their All-American Buckhanon, who missed two baskets but grabbed the rebound on each and finally scored to cut the lead to 73-72. Goff was then fouled by Bibbs and hit both free throws. Bibbs then scored on a putback with 6.7 seconds left to cut the lead to one again. UTS called a timeout and advanced the ball. It looked like Goff caught the ball in the front court and ran into the backcourt, but there was no call. She was fouled with 0.7 left, went to the foul line, hit the first, and tried to miss the second on purpose, but the ball missed the rim, forcing a violation. Robinson got a good look for the final shot that would have given her team the win, but the ball hit the rim.

"I couldn't see from my angle, but our players reacted like she made a violation," said Fisk head coach Victoria Crawford of the ending. "I told them that it should never go down to that anyway. We committed 24 turnovers and didn't get much out of a lot of players. We knew coming in that teams would key on Maya. Others need to see that as an opportunity for them to shine. We have one more game to get it right before we play in our conference."

Young finished the game with 11 points and ten rebounds. Davis also grabbed ten boards, giving both their first double-doubles of the season. The Lady Bulldogs will now take a few days off for Thanksgiving before traveling to Kentucky to take on Lindsey Wilson on Monday.