COLUMBIA, S.C. - The Allen University Women's basketball team played shutdown defense in the second half as they held on late to knock off East Division leader Savannah State 59-52 from Adams Gym Monday evening for their second straight win.

A competitive first quarter saw Allen get down early by eight as they trailed SSU 16-8 midway through the first. However, Allen would then amp up their play and finish the opening quarter on a 12-1 run to take a 20-17 lead into the 2nd frame. In quarter #2, AU would get off to a good start going on a 8-2 run to take their biggest lead of the game at 28-19 with six minutes to play in the half. However, Savannah would then find their stroke and finish the half on a 12-0 run as the Lady Tigers would take a 31-28 lead into the break.

A back-and-forth third quarter saw Allen trailing by one with two minutes to play before ending the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 48-42 lead going into the final quarter as the women outscored the Tigers 20-11 in the third.  The AU women would then extend their lead to nine (53-44) at the 5:20 mark of the fourth, but SSU could only get as close as four points the rest of the way as AU pulled off their second straight quality win. AU held SSU to just 30 percent shooting overall and only 16 percent from three while Allen shot 43 percent from the floor.

The win improves Allen to 11-9 overall and 7-8 in the conference as they remain tied for third with rival Benedict. SSU falls to second place in the East at 10-5 and 14-6 overall.

Junior transfer guard Keyshuna Fair led the Yellow Jackets with 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting while adding 3 rebounds, two steals and a block. Freshman forward Talayah Boxley also had a nice game recording her first double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds with a block while fellow freshman guard Ananda Mayhew contributed a season-high 7 points with 3 steals and 3 rebounds as well.

Guards Kayla Pope and Destinee Jamison-Whitfield each led the team with four assists apiece while Jamison-Whitfield also led the team in steals with four. Senior forward Cardrina Nolen registered 5 points and 6 rebounds while junior forward Jaida Reddin added 5 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals, and a block for the Lady Jackets as well.

The women will next return to action on Saturday when they remain home to host Albany State (Ga.) in another SIAC East battle at 2:00 PM.

Follow Allen women's basketball on Twitter, @AllenU_WBB, for the latest news and updates.