CLEVELAND, Tenn. - Southern Polytechnic State University (18-12) pulled off the first upset in the women’s bracket of the SSAC tournament by defeating fourth-seeded Shorter College 66-50 on Thursday evening. The victory earned the Hornets a berth in the semi- final round on Friday against the winner of Lee University and Southern Wesleyan.
Tiffany Scales came off the bench to spark the Southern Poly upset. She scored 17 points and made 7-of-16 shots from the field. She helped force the Lady Hawks into 22 turnovers by collecting five steals. Evelyn Heath tallied 12 points but more importantly dished off eight assists and pulled off three key steals. Aneta Bruzgul gave three Hornets double-figure scoring by tallying 11 points. Aurielle Morgan also played a key role in the victory with eight points, three rebounds and three steals.
Sandra Kostandinovic poured in 18 points for the losing Shorter club. She made 6-of-12 shots from the field and 2-of-5 3-pointers while collecting four rebounds. Nicole Frechette posted a double-double for the Lady Hawks. She tallied 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Tamara Weatherby tallied nine points but no other Shorter player had more than four points for the 20-6 losers.
Southern Poly shot 43 percent from the field and made 9-of-15 free throws. Shorter won the rebounding battle 27-26, but the Lady Hawks were able to force the Hornets into just 13 turnovers.
Southern Poly’s bench also played a key role in the victory, outscoring Shorter 36-12 in points off the bench. The Hornets also dominated inside, outscoring the Lady Hawks 38-20 in the paint.