ETTRICK, VA. – For the first time this season, the Virginia State women's basketball team outrebounded their opponents 35-30 which lead to a 66-44 victory over Benedict 66-44. The Trojans forced 25 turnovers which led to 32 points off of turnovers. The win was not only the first home victory of the season, it was also Head Coach Nadine Domond's first home victory. 



Raija Todd led all scorers with 16 points in the contest. She also led the game with five assists along with a steal. Sommer Blakemore scored 15 points while shooting 6-of-12 (50%) from the field along with five assist and three rebounds. Kylah Webb earned her second double-double of the season after scoring 10 points with 11 rebounds with six of them being on the offensive end. Shayla Sweeney scored 10 points in just 12 minutes after hitting 7-of-8 free throws before leaving the game due to injury. J'Auana Robinson earned a career-high 11 rebounds in the game to go along with seven points.
 


The Trojans scored 16 points on second chance opportunities while forcing Benedict to shoot 30% from the field and just 32% from beyond the arc. The Trojans did a solid job of staying out of foul trouble after ending with only 12 team fouls which led to just six free throws for Benedict.

 
How It Happened
 

• The Trojans took the lead early with a 13-0 run to take on early 13-4 lead with 3:10 left in the first quarter thanks to seven points from Shayla Sweeney. While the Lady Tigers were able to cut the lead to just five, the Trojans went into the second quarter with a 23-12 lead.                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

• The Trojans started the second quarter with a 12-0 run led by a pair of three-pointers from Raija Todd to make the score 35-12 with 5:49 left in the half. The Trojans nearly doubled their opponents point total heading into the second half with the score at 39-20. 

 

• Both teams struggled to find the bottom of the net in the third quarter yet, the Tigers were able to cut the lead down to 11. Just before the end of the third quarter, Sommer Blakemore and Raija Todd teamed up to score five points to make the score 47-31 heading into the final quarter of play

 

• As the Trojans went up by 21, the Lady Tigers started to chop away at the lead as they brought the score to 56-42 with 3:47 left in the game. The Trojans answered by scoring eight straight to end the game with the score at 66-44.  
   
   
  Up Next
  The Trojans will be right back in action tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. to conclude the CIAA/SIAC Challenge against Edward Waters (Fla.) at 4:00 p.m.