Lady Panthers Defeat Southern 61-51

GAME BOX SCORE

Dominique Smith, Siarra Soliz and Latia Williams combined for 48 points as the Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers closed out the regular season on the right foot as they captured a 61-51 win over Southern on Saturday evening at the William J. Nicks Building.

Southern held the upper hand early on as they ran out to a 6-0 start three minutes in. After starting 0-of-5 from the field with three turnovers, the Lady Panthers finally got on the board at the 17:05 mark as senior Dominique Smith connected on a jumper to cut the deficit to 6-2.

The Lady Panthers pushed the tempo from that point as they used an 8-2 run to knot the contest at 11-apiece as guard Sharde' Henry scored on a put-back layup with 14:22 remaining. However, the Jaguars responded from that point as they outscored the Lady Panthers 10-3 over the next five minutes earning an 18-11 cushion which was capped off by a corner three-pointer from Adrian Sanders.

After a Prairie View turnover on the ensuing possession, the Lady Panthers regrouped with a big play defensively as senior Trinity Robinson picked off an SU pass and pushed the ball up the floor en route to finding freshman Siarra Soliz for a three-pointer. From that point, the game began to sway in favor of Prairie View as the Lady Panthers earned their first lead of the contest via a 7-2 spurt as Latia Williams caught fire by knocking down back-to-back jumpers during the run. Prairie View went on to hold SU scoreless over the remaining four minutes of the period as they ended the half on an 6-0 spurt which bumped their lead to 27-20 going into the halftime break.

With a sense of urgency, the Jaguars opened up the second stanza with an 8-2 run to kickoff the half as they drew to within one point at 29-28 with 15:12 left to play. After trailing for the duration of the first half, Southern finally got over the hump as Freda Allen nailed an elbow jumper for a 30-29 lead.

The lead wouldn't hold though as Latia Williams got to the free throw line on the ensuing trip down the floor and knocked down both free throws as PV reclaimed a 31-30 advantage as the clock read 13:50.

Southern hung around and tied the game on two occasions from that point until a 5-0 surge by PV gave them a 40-35 lead at the 10:23 mark. However, the feisty Jaguars rallied around their front court as Jamie Floyd and Arica Hicks pulled them out of their jam as the duo helped cut SU's deficit to 40-39 with 9:07 remaining.

With 7:14 left, Soliz nailed two free throws for a 42-39 lead which eventually grew to 45-39 20 seconds later after Dominique Smith's three-pointer. SU answered with a jumper to close within four at 45-41 but PV found their shooter's touch as they built its largest lead of the contest at 10 after an 11-5 run en route to a 56-46 lead.

From that point, Southern was denied any type of opportunity to draw closer as the Lady Panthers led by no less than seven points the remainder of the way.

In a night dedicated to the Lady Panthers' five-member senior class, Prairie View closes out the 2010-11 regular season with an overall record of 18-11 and 14-4 in conference play. Smith went out in style as she led the way for the Lady Panthers with a game-high 18 points in her final game in the Baby Dome. Soliz followed with 16 points, three rebounds and two assists while fellow guard Latia Williams added a double-double performance scoring 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The Lady Panthers enter the SWAC Tournament as the number two seed and will face No. 7 seed Jackson State on Wednesday, March 9 beginning at 10 a.m. at the Garland Special Events Center in Garland, Texas.

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