ETTRICK, VA - The Virginia State University Trojans scored 38 second-half points to defeat Salem International 66-35 on the opening-day of the VSU Trojans Thanksgiving Classic in Ettrick, Virginia.

The Tigers (0-6) will play against Shaw on Day two of the VSU Trojans Thanksgiving Classic on Saturday afternoon (Nov. 26) at 1 pm.

Sophomore Jiahna Flood-Francis paced the Tiger offense with nine points (3-for-9) while dishing-out two assists. Sophomore Imari Bowers scored seven points off of the bench for SIU and went 2-for-5 from three-point range. Junior Amanda Allred added five points and two assists for the Tigers.

The Trojans (3-1) would take a seven point lead (19-12) into the second quarter against SIU after hitting four three's and going 7-for-18 from the floor. The Tigers went 5-for-13 from the floor and would sink two of their three-point attempts.

SIU faced a barrage of shots in the second quarter as VSU took a total of 20 shots, hitting four of them. The Tigers went 2-for-6 from the floor and 1-for-2 at the charity stripe. The Trojans held a 30-17 lead heading into halftime after out-scoring the Tigers 11-5 in the quarter.

The Trojans' offense would warm-up in the third quarter as VSU hit 42.9 percent of its shots (6-for-14) and 44.4 percent (4-for-9) of its three-point attempts to pull-away from the Tigers,

Salem would go a combined 6-for-24 in the second half and 3-for-13 from beyond-the-arc. The Trojans turned 22 SIU turnovers into 22 points and tallied 16 second-chance points in the contest. VSU out-rebounded SIU 43-30.

Mia Fitts guided the Trojans offensively with 16 points and two assists. Fitts went 6-for-9 from the floor and 4-for-7 from downtown. Nandi Taylor scored 12 points for VSU and went 4-for-8 from three-point range and dished-out three assists. Fitts and Taylor combined to drain eight of the Trojans' 11 made three's in the contest.