SALEM, W.Va. – The Salem University women's basketball team dropped a near comeback to Shippensburg 93-82, Saturday afternoon at a lively T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.
With the loss, Salem drops to 3-13, while Shippensburg improves to 8-10.
The Tigers shot just 27.91 percent (12-43) from the field and 12.50 percent (1-8) from three in the first half. In the second half, Salem vastly improved shooting 45.24 percent (19-42) from the field and 40 percent (6-15) from three.
Shippensburg shot 49.2 percent (29-59) from the field for the game, while they shot 20 percent (2-10) from three.
Salem forced Shippensburg to 23 turnovers, while the Tigers only accumulated 10 turnovers in the contest.
The Tigers were outrebounded 52-36 and were outscored in the paint 54-40. Salem notched strong bench play, as its bench outscored Shippensburg's 30-9.
Freshman
Nia Bishop led the charge for the Tigers as she notched her fourth 20-point game of the season, netting 20 points with three steals, while freshman
Daniela Quesada-Villalobos notched 17 points and grabbed two rebounds.
Junior
Aaliyah Holmes added 14 points with two assists and two steals, while classmate
Precious Price garnered 11 points.
The Tigers got off to a slow start as Shippensburg led 31-14 at the end of the first quarter. The Raiders extended their lead to 25 at 8:23 in the second quarter, which was their largest lead of the game as they held a 39-14 advantage.
After a made layup from Price with nine seconds remaining in the first half, the Tigers cut the lead to 50-31 at the break.
In the third quarter, Salem outscored the Raiders 21-20, after Bishop connected with a layup as the quarter ended.
Salem came alive in the fourth quarter as Shippensburg led 72-54 with 8:56 remaining in the game, but the Tigers amped-up a 22-6 run in just five minutes, as the Tigers trailed by just two points 78-76 with 3:54 remaining after Quesada-Villalobos drained a three.
But this is as close as Salem got, as Shippensburg made few free throws to seal the 93-82 win.
The Raiders' Ariel Jones nearly posted a triple-double as she notched a game-high 36 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
Salem hits the court again Monday as it travels to Shaw for a 6:00 p.m. start.
