GAME BOX SCORE

The Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers held on for dear life as a 19-point first half cushion trickled away in the closing seconds of the second period en route to an important 55-53 win over Alcorn State in the William J. Nicks Building on Thursday evening.

The Lady Panthers came out on fire on both ends of the floor as they stormed out to a decisive 21-6 lead at the 8:58 mark. Prairie View continued to pour it on the Lady Braves by building a 19-point margin over a span of six minutes as they received a collective team effort offensively from Siarra Soliz, Robin Jones, Latia Williams, and Sharde Henry.

With 1:11 remaining in the period, Alcorn State guard Kiara Ruffin made an attempt to rally the troops as she was fouled on a three-point try which turned into three made free throws for a 29-13 margin. The Lady Braves made their presence known in the final 45 seconds of the half as forward Renelle Richmond scored on a slashing drive to the rim for a 29-15 halftime deficit.

Alcorn State continued where they left off as Ruffin went straight to work in the second stanza by nailing a deep trey which cut PV's lead to 29-18 with 18:59 remaining. With the momentum in their favor, the Lady Braves rallied around their defense by forcing the Lady Panthers into seven turnovers over the course of five minutes. As a result, ASU continued to chip away as they outscored the Lady Panthers 14-3 over the first eight minutes of the half.

From that point, the Lady Panthers dug deep and regained the momentum by holding Alcorn State scoreless during a two-minute span. Prairie View's lead grew to as large as 10 at the 9:07 mark but ASU continued to hang around by cutting the lead to 41-36.

The Lady Panthers regrouped and held a comfortable margin over the next few minutes as they led 50-42 with 4:22 remaining. However, ASU continued to fight as Ruffin elevated her play with five straight points to draw within three at 50-47. Prairie View's Siarra Soliz hit two free throws at the 2:04 mark for a 52-47 margin but ASU's Sharnika Breedlove connected on a three-pointer to draw within 52-50 nearly 15 seconds later.

On the ensuing possession, a mishandled pass by the Lady Panthers turned the ball over to the Lady Braves but they ended up returning the favor with a turnover at the 51-second mark. 

After the turnover, Prairie View went up by four (54-50) as senior Dominique Smith scored a huge layup. ASU answered PV's basket with a three-pointer of its own from Carolinsia Crumbley and received the opportunity of a lifetime on the next possession as PV turned the ball over with 13 seconds remaining.

ASU called a timeout after the turnover and put the ball in the hands of Ruffin to begin the play. With the ball at the top of the key, Ruffin drove to the paint and threw up a prayer but PV's Robin Jones came flying out of nowhere to record a game-saving block which rolled out of bounds. The Lady Braves never recovered after the block as they turned the ball over on the ensuing possession.  

Forced to foul, the Lady Braves sent Jones to the line as the senior went on to knock down 1-of-2 free throws en route to the victory.

Soliz had another solid outing recording a game-high 19 points while pulling down six rebounds. Jones followed with 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks while Latia Williams also added 10 points.