The Lady Tigers were so close and yet so far Friday at Southern-Shreveport. The women's contest to open Friday evening at the Southern Classic came down to the final moment, with Southern University-Shreveport capitalizing with two free throws with just 0.5 seconds left to get the win 74-73.

The Lady Tigers outscored an opponent for the 9th straight quarter to open their matchup with the Lady Jags, winning the first quarter 17-16. The game would remain tight to close the first half, with the Lady Jags taking a 34-32 lead to the break.

SUSLA would explode for a 28-point 3rd quarter and take a lead of a dozen points into the 4th. But the Lady Tigers refused to give up. Paced by Eugenia Gilliam, who led the team with a season-high 24, CCC rallied to tie, and with under 10 seconds left, Gilliam hit one of two free throws to put the team up by a tally.

The initial attempt at the win - a wild layup by Savonya Robinson - was off the mark for SUSLA, but, on the putback, Jada Taylor drew a foul and headed to the line for the Lady Jags with 0.5 seconds left on the clock. She would make both FTs to give the SUSLA women their first win of the year. 

Gilliam led all scorers with her 24, while SUSLA was led by Taylor, who finished with 17. Carnita Hammond finished with 15 and has now scored 31 over the last two contests for CCC. Diamond Love and Melvinisha Jenkins combined for 26.

It was the second consecutive time that the SUSLA Lady Jags have prevailed over the Lady Tigers by 1 point, doing so last year on CCC's homecoming, and the 3rd consecutive time the two teams have had a game decided by one possession.

The Lady Tigers battle Bossier Parish tomorrow at noon on the campus of SUSLA. 

A live stream will be available through coahomasports.com.