Lady Panthers Walk Out With Key Road Win At Bama State

GAME BOX SCORE

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Prairie View A&M Lady Panther basketball team walked away with a key road victory as they overcame a five-point second-half deficit en route to claiming a 50-43 win on Saturday afternoon at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

Prairie View A&M stormed out to a decisive advantage as they ran out to a 13-0 lead seven minutes in after forcing ASU into six turnovers while holding them to 0-of-10 shooting from the field. However, Alabama State found life as they established a low post presence to counter the PV ball pressure as center Quentori Alford came off the bench with four quick points to cut the deficit to 13-4 with 10:49 to play in the half.

The Lady Panthers responded immediately on the ensuing possession as senior guard Dominique Smith pushed the ball up the floor as the Vallejo, Calif. native scored a transition jumper to bump PV's lead to 15-4 as the clock read 9:25. Over the next five minutes, the Lady Panthers went cold from the field while Tanika Jackson, ASU's star and the SWAC's second-leading scorer, rallied her troops by converting back-to-back baskets to deflate the margin to 15-9 en route to a 30-second Prairie View timeout.

In an attempt to crawl out of their slump, Lady Panther senior Robin Jones broke the offensive drought as she scored on an elbow jumper to push the lead to 17-11 with 6:05 left in the half. Behind outstanding guard play from Tamara Wadlington and Taila Arrington, Alabama State would close to within two points behind an 8-4 run to conclude the half down 21-19.

The Lady Panthers' difficulties poured over into the start of the second stanza as the Lady Hornets continued where they left off by tying the game at 21-apiece at the 18:34 mark. Minutes later, Alabama State earned its first lead of the contest as Wadlington knocked down a trey to go up 24-23.

From that point, it appeared as if everything was falling into the favor of the Lady Hornets as everything they threw up seemed to go in. A bank shot by Arrington with the shot clock running down ignited a 9-2 spurt that led to ASU's largest lead of the afternoon at five with 12:56 remaining.

The tables soon turned as the Lady Panthers chipped away at the lead after executing their full court press which forced a bundle of turnovers that allowed them to work their way through the slump. The Lady Panthers eventually knotted the contest at 34-all using a 7-2 flurry as they connected on six free throws from the charity stripe during the run.

With under four minutes to play, the Lady Panthers turned up the intensity and seized the momentum as Latia Williams and Robin Jones stirred up a 12-2 run en route to a comfortable 49-40 cushion with under a minute to play. With the game in control, Prairie View managed to keep ASU in check from that point as the Lady Hornets went 0-of-3 in the final 50 ticks of the contest.

Saturday's win advanced Prairie View A&M to 16-10 overall and 12-3 in conference play. With Southern dropping a key game on Saturday to Alcorn State, the opportunity for a SWAC Regular Season Championship greatly improved as the Lady Panthers currently sit in second place.

Three players scored in double figures for the Lady Panthers as Latia Williams and Robin Jones led the way scoring 14 points apiece with Jones adding a 10-rebound effort. Freshman guard Siarra Soliz contributed with 10 points and two rebounds.

The Lady Panthers return to action on Monday as they conclude their final regular season road trip of the season against Alabama A&M beginning at 5:30 p.m. in Huntsville, Ala.

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