Lady Pioneers fall in regular season finale

By: Nick Kieser

GALLATIN, TENNESSEE — The Vol State Lady Pioneers played and lost the last game of the regular season against Jackson State 63-61. Scoring in the second half was dominated by the Green Jays having a five-point lead with seven minutes to play.

Early on the Green Jays had the tempo under control and the one thing the Pioneers did better the first half was draw fouls more to have more free throw opportunities. The Pioneer shooters shot 8/8 on the line in the first half to maintain the lead (32-27) going into the locker room at halftime.

Once the third quarter began the Green Jays hit a bucket and two three-pointers to start then coach Otis Key called a timeout. The rest of the quarter saw the two programs keep it close but the Green Jays led by two (43-45) to end the third quarter.

Late in the game, the Green Jay crowd was loud and seemed to fuel the team and it translated on the court as the score kept piling on. Miller tied the game up at 54 points apiece to keep the ending an interesting spectacle to unfold.

Coach Key called the last timeout with under a minute to play to rally the team. Two buckets were hit under a minute to go but the Green Jays pulled the win out as the Pioneers could not retain offensive possession to close the game.

Playoffs begin Friday for the Pioneers and for live updates and analysis follow the team on Twitter @VSCCPioneersWBB.