BOX SCORE
The Lady Panthers fought tooth and nail for their 49-42 win over Hampton on Thursday afternoon. The Pirates forced Prairie View A&M to adjust through adversity and a nine-point first half. The Lady Panthers responded by growing stronger as a team and forging a second-half comeback in which they outscored their opponents by 17 points in the second half.
Wearing their green and white shoe laces in remembrance of the victims of the Newtown, Conn. shooting, Prairie View went from shooting 11.5 percent from the field in the first half to 56 percent in the second half, including a 60 percent showing from downtown.
“I'm so incredibly happy for the girls,” Prairie View A&M coach Toyelle Wilson said. “How they came out in the second half with focus, intensity and a never give-up mentality shows what they're capable of doing.”
Prairie View A&M's leading scorer and rebounder Latia Williams was held to her lowest scoring total since 2010, facing a fierce double team by Hampton on every offensive possession. However, she found her teammates for open shots in the second half and helped her team win indirectly.
Redshirt freshman guard Gabrielle Scott scored 15 of her career-high 20 points in the second half. She drained three of her four three-point shots in the second half and finished shooting 50 percent from downtown and from the field. Scott scored six points during a five-minute, 16-5 run in the second half, which was capped off by her jumper with 2:26 left to take a 43-38 lead.
“The girls needed to calm down and read our second and third options and take what they were giving them,“ Wilson said. “I think they did that really well. Credit Gabby Scott for coming in and hitting open shots with 20 points, and Shamiya Brooks came in and had huge rebounds and a defensive presence to finish with six points, seven rebounds and a block.”
Lady Panthers reserve guard LaReahn Washington scored eight points in 29 minutes of playing time, but her defensive prowess was what set the tempo for a Lady Panthers squad that held Hampton to 19 first half points and 30 percent shooting from the field in the entire game.
The Lady Panthers couldn't find the bottom of the basket in the first half. Hampton held the Lady Panthers to 3-for-16 shooting from the field. Prairie View A&M went into the locker room with a 19-9 deficit, but they responded in the second half with defensive intensity led by Washington and freshman center Shamiya Brooks. Brooks had two huge second chance buckets for Prairie View A&M in the second half.
Prairie View A&M will play Toledo at 7 p.m. Friday in the Championship Game of the Toledo Invite.
