Bench helps Albany State Lady Rams win in overtime

ALBANY — It’s going to take more than just the starting five to get the Albany State Lady Rams back into postseason play.

Saturday afternoon in a key SIAC game with Benedict, the Lady Rams’ bench came through in the clutch to help them defeat Benedict College 76-69 in overtime at the HPER Gymnasium.

It was junior Kyasha Wilson that hit a pair of 3-pointers late in the second half to keep the Lady Rams in the game. Zuri Frost knocked down two free throws with 0.3 seconds left in regulation to force overtime, and it was Jillian Anderson who scored five of ASU’s first six points in the overtime period to extend the lead.

Head coach Robert Skinner said he was proud of the production he got from his team, and he said it was one of the most-complete games his team has played this season.

“I was satisfied with everything I got from everybody, I really was,” he said. “I feel like everybody put forth a massive effort to win the game. I felt like all of them did what they had to do today. We ran the ball, we played good offense, we played good defense. I really felt like we played as close as we could to a complete game.”

The Lady Rams got it done from the charity stripe as well, particularly in the second half. They were 23 of 26 and 39 of 50 overall. Skinner has been preaching to the team about making free throws all season.

“Knock em down when you gotta knock em down is the important thing,” he said. “We didn’t do a very good job in the first half shooting them, but in the second half, we did an excellent job … an excellent job of shooting free throws. I was really pleased with the way we hit ‘em like we did because we’re gonna need to do that more often in order to win the ball game.”

It’s the second gritty home win the Lady Rams have pulled out this week and Skinner said his team is showing they won’t shrink up with the game gets tough.

“I’ve been able to recognize the fact that they don’t mind getting in pressure situations and they know how to respond when the pressure is on,” he said.

Mecca Frost finished the game 12 of 12 from the free throw line and led the Lady Rams with 16 points to go along with 10 assists. Ieshia Young finished with 14 points, Wilson added 11 and Keidra Green finished with 10.

Despite sitting out a significant portion of the game due to foul trouble, Artisha Holston still led the team in rebounds with 13.

Albany State is now 11-9 on the season and 10-3 in the SIAC.