BOX SCORE

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - Prairie View A&M's 55-53 loss to Alabama A&M on Monday night was accompanied with a bit of controversy.

After a defensive stop by the Lady Panthers with about one minute left in the game, freshman point guard Jeanette Jackson traveled after a dead ball inbounds play and committed a turnover. An inadvertent horn from the scorers table while the ball was in play confused her and others into thinking play had been stopped.

Trailing 52-51 and with the momentum seemingly on their side until that miscue, the Lady Panthers never recovered from that play and saw their final attempt at a last-second shot thwarted as the ball was poked away from behind out of the hands of Jackson on the game's final possession as time expired.

"The refs dictated the game," Prairie View A&M head coach Toyelle Wilson said. "We had to make the adjustment. We made some late plays at the end of the game, we just didn't get that last rebound, and we had two turnovers in the last 45 seconds."   

Despite the close loss, the Lady Panthers received another solid performance by junior guard Latia Williams. She scored a team-high 20 points and added seven rebounds. Kiara Etienne fell one point below her season average with 13 points. She also had five rebounds and three steals in the loss.

On the other side of the ball, the Lady Panthers had a tough time containing the SWAC's leading scorer Whiquitta Tobar, who finished with 20 points, 13 of which came in the second half.
 
The Lady Panthers had the advantage in the first half.

Prairie View jumped out to a 10-point, 14-4 lead after Etienne made a three-pointer from the corner with an assist from Jeanette Jackson with 11:11 left in the first half. However, the Lady Bulldogs stormed back to within four points thanks to a 6-0 run that was highlighted by a couple of three-point plays by Tobar and Jasmine Sanders. Sanders' three-point play the old fashioned way cut the Lady Panthers lead to 14-10 with 9:01 left.

Though the Lady Bulldogs remained close for the remainder of the first half, the Lady Panthers held on to their lead thanks to the efforts of Williams and Etienne. Etienne had 10 first-half points and Williams had six points and five rebounds at the half. Prairie View led 21-18 at the end of a low-scoring half.

The Lady Panthers (7-13, 4-5 SWAC) return home to play host to Texas Southern on Saturday, Feb. 4 to kick off a three-game home stand. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.