Lady Panthers Drop Tourney Opener To East Carolina

AMES, Ia. – The Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers returned to action after an eight-day layoff as they opened play in the annual Iowa State Cyclone Challenge on Wednesday evening at Hilton Coliseum. Despite a double-double performance from senior Robin Jones, the Lady Panthers dropped their third straight game following a 68-55 loss to East Carolina.

From the opening tip, both sides were unable to find their scoring touch with ECU crawling out to an early 13-8 advantage at the 10:51 mark. The Lady Panthers drew to within three several minutes later following two free throws from Jones as ECU held a 15-12 lead with 8:14 to play in the half.

With Prairie View A&M closing in, the first momentum swing of the half took place behind an 18-6 East Carolina run which was led by Ashley Clarke. Clarke ignited the charge with six points during the stretch en route to a decisive 29-14 advantage with 4:23 remaining in the half.

Prairie View quickly bounced back using a 9-2 spurt of its own as freshman guard Siarra Soliz connected on back-to-back jumpers to bring the Lady Panthers within eight (31-23) with 2:19 left in the half. However, East Carolina would hold the final edge in the half outscoring the Lady Panthers 4-2 in the final two minutes for a 35-25 halftime lead.

The Lady Panthers refused to back down as the second half began with a 13-4 run to draw within three points at 41-38. However, the Pirates countered by holding Prairie View to just one point during a six-minute span as they increased their lead to as much as 17 points with 6:28 left in the game.

Prairie View was unable to climb over the hump from that point as they would draw no closer than nine points on several occasions. Ahead by nine with 2:01 left, ECU pushed its lead back to double figures with back-to-back layups from Clarke which secured the win in the tourney opener for both teams.

In addition to Jones' double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, Soliz also finished in double figures with 13 points while adding four rebounds, two assists and five steals. Sophomore Sharde Henry also contributed eight points while pulling down eight boards.

The Lady Panthers wrap up non-conference play in the final game of the Iowa State Cyclone Challenge Tournament with a match-up against host Iowa State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday evening.

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