Rome, Ga- NAIA #18 Southern Poly's press was the difference today as the Hornets (27-4) defeated Brenau (17-14) in the first round of the SSAC Tournament today by a score of 58-36.  The Tigers turned the ball over a school record 32 times and shot a paltry .316 from the field on a day that their defense held SPSU twenty points under their season scoring average.  Two time SSAC All Conference Ashley Hagans was the only BU player to score in double figures with 11 and Paige Cooper pitched in eight points to go with a team leading five rebounds.  One bright spot for the Tigers was a 9-9 effort from the free throw line and they held the Hornets well below their season field goal percentage at .368. 

Southern Poly opened the game with an 11-1 run, but Brenau came back to 11-8 and kept the game close throughout the first half, going into the locker room down 33-20.  With seven minutes to go in the game, the Tigers got it to a 12 point deficit, but the Hornets pulled away from that point on.  Playing in their last game was a group of seven seniors, including five that helped start the program four years ago.  Natasha Anderson, Tori Collins, Paige Cooper, Sarah Ledford and Vicky Wilson have been the core group from their freshman year on.  Meg Henson joined that group in the second year and Hagans came on board last season.  Cooper, Ledford, Hagans and Wilson all scored over 1,000 points at Brenau and Ledford, Hagans and Cooper have all been named to the SSAC All Conference team.   Anderson, Henson and Wilson have all been SSAC All Academic. This group of dedicated young women will be hard to replace and they have taken this program from it's infancy to a point of competitiveness in the SSAC.