VIDEO LINK TO FRIDAY'S GAME

BOX SCORE

VIRGIN ISLANDS - Prairie View A&M gave an undefeated Michigan team a scare in a 59-53 loss on Thanksgiving night in the Virgin Islands. The Lady Panthers pulled to within three points in the final three minutes in an attempt to upset its Big 10 opponent in the opener of the 2011 Paradise Jam tournament.

With 2:59 left in the game, freshman point guard Jeanette Jackson made a layup through contact and drew the foul which cut the Lady Panthers' deficit to 54-51. That would be as close as Prairie View would get to the upset, as Jackson missed the free throw and the Lady Panthers only scored two points in the remaining minutes.

“I told the girls that every possession and every play we need 100 percent,” Prairie View A&M coach Toyelle Wilson said. “We came up a little bit short.”

Jackson scored a career and game-high 17 points while adding three assists and six rebounds in the effort. Junior forward Latia Williams scored a season-high 14 points and was one rebound away from a double-double.

The Lady Panthers were aggressive in getting to the rim, however Wilson said there was a disparity in the number of attempts at the foul line. Michigan (5-0) had 21 free throw attempts compared to just nine for the Lady Panthers (1-2).

Prairie View stayed within striking distance of the Wolverines in the first half thanks to an aggressive half-court defense and timely three-point shots. Junior guard Kiara Etienne scored each of her 12 points in the first half. She drained two three pointers, including a shot from downtown with 5:28 left in the first half to cut Prairie View's deficit to 30-27.

In the post, freshman forward Larissa Scott had 11 rebounds and three steals, while freshman post Asha Hampton-Finch had six rebounds, two steals and five tipped passes to make scoring tough for Michigan's interior players.

The Lady Panthers will play Marquette at 4:45 p.m. on Friday in their second game of the Paradise Jam.  The contest will be streamed live at the above link.