Texas Southern 55, Alabama A&M 49
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Lady Tigers of Texas Southern University led from start to finish Saturday as they outlasted Alabama A&M 55-49.
At T.M. Elmore Gymnasium, TSU’s Joyce Kennerson scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Lady Tigers (11-8, 6-2 SWAC) to their fifth consecutive victory in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.
Kennerson was 9-of-23 shooting from the floor, as she more than doubled her previous high of 11 points at Elmore Gymnasium. The junior from Port Arthur, Texas (Memorial) kept her place atop the nation’s scoring lead with the 28-point output.
Kaitlyn Palmer added 15 points for Texas Southern, while Breasia McElrath chipped in five points and five rebounds. Camille Mills pulled in 12 rebounds for the Lady Tigers, followed by Nycolle Smith’s nine rebounds.
Ashlyn Dotson scored 17 points to lead the Lady Bulldogs (8-11, 3-5 SWAC).
The Lady Tigers jumped out to a 17-4 lead at the end of the first quarter, which proved to be enough of a cushion as the home team fought its way back in the middle periods. But before A&M could get any closer, the Lady Tigers rebuilt their lead by scoring the first six points of the final period and kept the Lady Bulldogs from scoring until the 3:47 mark of the quarter.
The low-scoring game was to be expected, as TSU and Alabama A&M give up the fewest points per game in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Grambling State 66, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 57
PINE BLUFF, Ark. – The Grambling State University women’s basketball team took advantage of 33 Arkansas-Pine Bluff turnovers and cashed in on those with 28 points as the Lady Tigers halted a three-game losing streak with a 66-57 victory over the Lady Golden Lions in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game at the K.L. Johnson Complex on Saturday night.
Grambling State (8-11 overall, 5-3 SWAC) trailed 13-11 after one quarter and 32-29 at the break. The Lady Tigers outscored the Lady Golden Lions (3-15, 1-7), 24-17 in the third and took a 53-49 advantage into the final period.
Monisha Neal came into the game needing just eight points to register 1,000 for her collegiate career and she finished with 11 points, five boards, three steals and two assists. Shakyla Hill added 11 points, nine boards, eight steals and six assists, while Alexus Williams poured in a career-high 10 points, four rebounds and one steal.
Aiya Hassan led Arkansas-Pine Bluff with a game-high 15 points, four rebounds and a pair of blocks. Shawntayla Harris tallied a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, along with a game-high four blocked shots.
Grambling State entered the second half trailing by three points (32-29) and fell behind 36-29 after a Harris jumper with 8:10 left in the third. The Lady Golden Lions extended the margin to 39-32 after a bucket by Trasity Totten with 6:58 remaining.
From that point on, the Lady Tigers dominated the quarter as Grambling State closed out the period with a 21-10 run to take a 53-49 advantage into the final quarter. Arkansas-Pine Bluff cut the margin to 53-52 after a Hassan 3-pointer just 29 seconds into the fourth, but Grambling State answered with a 7-0 run, capped by a Hill layup with 6:30 remaining.
The Lady Golden Lions closed the gap to 62-57 after a Noe’ll Taylor bucket with 2:14 left, but that would be as close as Arkansas-Pine Bluff would get.
Alabama State 70, Prairie View A&M 68
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Shamyiah Smith and Kayla Stephens hit key free throws down the stretch to secure a 70-68 victory over Prairie View A&M in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play Saturday afternoon at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
Alabama State (5-14, 3-5 SWAC) held a six-point advantage (14-8) after the start of the first period. The Lady Hornets’ momentum carried into the early stages of the second quarter after Prairie View A&M went scoreless for almost five minutes and Alabama State was able to establish its largest lead of the game at 31-20. They ended the first half with a 36-28 advantage.
Prairie View A&M (6-13, 4-4 SWAC) outscored Alabama State 25-10 in the third quarter to obtain a 53-46 lead going into the fourth. The Lady Panthers would not go quietly as they cut the deficit down to two in the final minute of the game, but clutch free throws by Smith and Stephens sealed the deal for the Lady Hornets.
Tatyana Calhoun led three players in double figures, recording a new career-high with 24 points and five rebounds, while Smith added 14 points. Kayla Stephens missed a double-double by a single point, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds in the win.
The Lady Hornets shot 53.1 (26-of-49) percent from the floor, and 40.0 (2-of-5) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 55.2 (16-of-29) percent from the free throw line.
Meanwhile, Shala Dobbins led Prairie View A&M with 22 points and eight rebounds, on 6-of-16 shots from the floor and 10-of-15 from the charity stripe, while Chelsea Tieuel added 12 points.
The Lady Panthers shot 41.8 (23-of-55) percent from the floor, and 33.3 (6-of-18) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 72.7 (16-of-22) percent from the free throw line.
Mississippi Valley State 72, Jackson State 61
ITTA BENA, Miss. – A strong first-half of play powered Mississippi Valley State as the Devilettes picked up their first win of the season, downing Jackson State 72-61 Saturday afternoon at the R.W. Harrison Complex.
MVSU’s (1-19, 1-7 SWAC) LaKendra Bassett took off early, scoring 11 points in the first quarter on her way to a 32-point effort along with seven boards and six steals. Kristy Parker Kristy Parker was just shy of a double-double, contributing 17 points and nine rebounds in the win. MaKayla Bonner rounded out the Devilettes in double digits with 10 points.
The Devilettes’ defense limited Jackson State’s (10-7, 5-3 SWAC) leading scorers, Christina Ellis and Derica Perry to a combined four points in the first half of the game.
Valley held JSU to 35.3 percent shooting from the field (24-68) and 20 percent from three-point range (5-25). The Devilettes shot 46.4 percent from the floor (26-56) and 42.1 percent in threes (8-19). Valley also scored 24 points off of turnovers. The Lady Tigers’ bench scored 34 points in the game.
In a game that had just three lead changes, Valley led for the entire second half. By the end of the third quarter the Lady Tigers had cut the Valley lead down to four points (52-48), but the Devilettes stormed ahead, leading by 15 late en route to the victory.
Marneisha Hamer came off the bench to score a team high 16 points on 8-10 shooting from the field for the Lady Tigers. She also pulled down six rebounds. Christina Ellis and Kawaii Perry each scored 10 for JSU, and Chelsea Causey pulled down a team high nine rebounds.
Southern 64, Alcorn State 56
BATON ROUGE, La. – Southern staved off a late charge by Alcorn State to remain atop league standings thanks to a 64-56 win Saturday at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
Samantha Duncan led the Jaguars (9-9, 8-1 SWAC) with 14 points and grabbed five rebounds. Jaden Towner scored 12 points, and Briana Green added 10 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Alexus Freeman and Tia Sanders both finished with 11 points to lead the Lady Braves (9-11, 5-4 SWAC). Miracle Rushing was close to a double-double with nine points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while Cloe Lane scored nine points off the bench.
Alcorn went 23-50 (46.0 percent) from the field, 6-19 (31.6 percent) from three-point range, and 4-16 (25.0 percent) at the charity stripe.
The first half was a close affair as the Lady Braves took an early 8-4 lead on a Sanders three-pointer, but Southern would respond with a 10-1 swing to go up 14-9 with 1:55 remaining in the first. Freeman then knocked down a long ball and the teams remained scoreless over the remaining 1:35 as the Lady Jaguars led 14-12 going into the second quarter. Lane put Alcorn back on top with a shot from distance, but the Jaguars took off as Duncan buried two treys and Green added a lay-up in between. Alcorn drew within one, but at the break Southern led by three.
In the third quarter, Southern threatened to run away with matters as it held Alcorn to just 10 points in the frame and — following a Brianna Tolliver basket that made it 32-31 Southern — closed the quarter on an 18-6 run. After two free throws by Tiamya Butler pushed Southern to a 54-40 lead with 9:06 left, Alcorn made its move as Freeman knocked down a pair of long balls to key a 14-3 run that was capped by a Lane score, bringing Alcorn within three, but Southern made 5-6 at the stripe to hang on.
Courtesy: SWAC
