HOUSTON – On the strength of a 31-point game from Briana Green, top-seeded Southern fended off No. 4 seed Prairie View A&M TBA to advance to the 2018 Toyota Southwestern Athletic Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game Friday afternoon.
Green also hauled in seven rebounds and dished out five assists. Samantha Duncan added 12 points for the Jaguars (17-12), and Alyric Scott chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.
Both sides traded baskets early on, but Green dominated the Lady Panthers down the stretch of the first quarter as Southern pushed its lead to double-digits. Green accounted for 13 first-quarter points as Southern took a 32-19 lead into the break.
Down 36-21, The Lady Panthers clamped down on Green, limiting her to zero points in the second quarter as they stormed back with a 10-0 run over a span of 2:30. PVAMU capped the rally with back-to-back Shala Dobbins three-pointers to pull within five at the midpoint of the second quarter. However, Dobbins was plagued with foul trouble, picking up three whistles within the first 16 minutes of the contest.
Jhyrah Cobb converted on three-straight baskets inside to pull Prairie View within three with less than a minute to go, and Dominique Newman sank a pair of free throws to make the score 42-41 Jaguars at the break.
Prairie View’s La’Neique Nealey tied the game at 44 with a three-point play with just over seven minutes left in the third. The sides went back and forth, until Dobbins slashed through for a lay-up to give Prairie View a 48-47 lead with 4:44 to go in the third. The Jaguars went cold during this span, missing six straight shots from the field.
An 8-0 run by Southern put the Jaguars ahead five, but Dobbins got the hoop and the harm on the other end to lessen the deficit to one possession. Prairie View ended the quarter with a bang, as Chelsea Tieuel closed the half with five points to give PVAMU a 58-57 lead going to the fourth.
Tied at 62 with 7:52 left, both offenses caught fire, but Southern threatened to pull away after a Skylar O’Bear corner trey that made it 73-68 Jaguars with 4:17 left. Dobbins knocked down two from the stripe and Newman buried a short jumper to bring PVAMU within three (75-72) with 1:39 left. After two free throws from Southern’s Danayea Charles, Newman again converted, but Green went coast-to-coast and completed a three-point play, all but sealing it for the Jaguars.
Newman led PVAMU (15-16) with a career-high 27 points to go with five rebounds. Dobbins added 19 points, and Cobb put up 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Courtesy: SWAC
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