Grambling’s quest for its first win under new head coach Donnita Drain fell short at the buzzer as Arkansas-Little Rock’s Channon Haywood converted a buzzer-beating lay-up in a 61-60 win over the Lady Tigers on Tuesd ay in the Assembly Center.Trailing by two to open the second half, the contest began to slip away from Grambling (0-3) as UALR (3-1) went on an 11-0 run during the first two minutes of the half to claim a 34-28 margin.
However, Grambling wouldn’t back down from its Sun Belt foe as they responded with an 11-4 run of its own to regain a 46-45 margin at the 8:02 mark. From that point, the contest went back-and-forth as Grambling claimed a 57-51 lead with 4:09 remaining in regulation. UALR fought back and tied it at 55-all on a Chastity Reed jumper with 1:53 left and moved back on top by a margin of 59-57 nearly one minute later after Kim Sitzmann picked off Rachele Dobbin’s pass in the paint and drove coast-to-coast for the lay-up. With 28 seconds remaining, Lady Tiger freshman Wyneishia Randle was sent20to the charity stripe and converted one-of-two free throws to cut their deficit to 59-58. UALR turned the ball over on the ensuing possession at the 17 second mark and Grambling took advantage as sophomore Kristen Harper nailed the potential go-ahead jumper from the free throw line with three ticks remaining to force a UALR timeout. With the game on the line, Reed secured the inbound pass at center court and found a streaking Haywood on the left side of the court en route to the game-winning basket with no time left on the scoreboard. Randle led four Lady Tigers in double figures with 15 points. Harper followed with 11 points along with 10 apiece from Kourtney Sherman and Gabrielle Fleming. Anshel Cooper topped all Trojans with 21 points while Reed chipped in 15 points and four steals.
