B OX SCORE

DALLAS - Feeding off of a momentous first-half run that stunned Grambling State just enough for them to stay in control, the Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers picked up a big 68-55 win on Martin Luther King Day at the Ellis Davis Field House in Dallas.

The Lady Panthers held a 31-24 lead out of the half and extended it to a decisive 12-point, 43-31 lead after a Jeanette Jackson jumper with 12:46 left off an assist from LaReahn Washington.

“We made plays when we had to,” Prairie View A&M coach Toyelle Wilson said. “We made defensive stops when we had to. We forced 20 turnovers.”

The Lady Tigers were unable to recover from that blow, and Prairie View used standout performances from Kiara Etienne, Asha Hampton-Finch and JaQuandria Williams to run away with it. Etienne scored a game-high 21 points, going 8-for-8 from the foul line.

Hampton-Finch got her first start of the season and played big, scoring a career-high 14 points and grabbing three boards in 32 minutes of playing time.

“We told the girls that in order to win we would at least need to have three people show up in the game,” Wilson said. “We had three players score in the double figures.”

Though the Lady Panthers got out to a slow start, going 0-for-6 from the field through the first five minutes, Prairie View caught fire in the final four minutes of the first half. Spurred by team defense and the offensive efforts of junior guards Kiara Etienne and JaQuandria Williams, the Lady Panthers closed the half out on a 15-5 run and turned what was a 21-18 deficit into a 31-24 lead heading into the locker room.

Etienne and Williams combined for 15 first-half points. Etienne's three-point shot with 45 seconds left in the first half cemented the run and gave the Lady Panthers the momentum heading into the second period.

Williams also recorded 10 rebounds in the first half. She finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds for her first double-double of her Division 1 career.

The Lady Panthers improved to 5-11 after the win with a 2-3 Southwestern Athletic Conference record. Grambling State fell to 6-10 and 2-4 in the SWAC.

Prairie View returns home to play Mississippi Valley State at 3 p.m. on Saturday Jan. 21 and then at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which will be televised on ESPNU.