Savannah, Georgia-A strong showing in the second half behind Khadija Smith's 21 point, six rebound effort, pushed Edward Waters to a come-from-behind 72-63 victory over Spring Hill in the opening round of the 2023 TIAA SIAC Basketball Championship presented by Cricket on Sunday afternoon at Tiger Arena.

The Purple & Orange (11-15, 6-12 SIAC) trailed by one at 40-39 at halftime to the West Division's #7 seed in the tournament before getting off of the mat to in the second half. Edward Waters outscored Spring Hill (3-23, 2-17 SIAC) 33-23 in the second half, including a 13-7 dominant fourth quarter to seal the deal for the Lady Tigers.

Joining Smith in double figures was senior center Emari Bell with 17 points and six boards, followed by Jourdan Avery with 14 points off of the bench for Edward Waters.

The Lady Tigers will face the West's #3 seed Kentucky State on Tuesday afternoon at 5:30pm and will be aired live on ESPN+.

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