Fontenot 3-pointer at buzzer tops Jackson State, sends Southern to SWAC championship game

2023SWAC WSemi2 JSU SU 4008
Southern hit three 3-pointers in the final 13 seconds, including one by Aleighyah Fontenot as time expired in a 65-64 upset win over No. 1 seed Jackson State in the semifinal round of the SWAC women’s tournament.

Trailing 61-56 with just over a minute left in regulation, Genovea Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer to pull the Jaguars within two. Then Fontenot drilled another to draw Southern within 63-62 with 10 seconds left.

After Jackson State’s Daja Woodard split a pair of foul shots with six seconds left, Fontenot rushed the ball up the floor after receiving the inbound pass a nailed a running 3-pointer with just a few tenths of second remaining to conclude a shocker.

“I saw nobody was in front of me, so I stopped and I shot it hoping it would go in,” Fontenot said later. “I knew it would go in. I was just trying to get us the win.”

Southern will face Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the championship game for the NCAA tournament automatic bid.