BOX SCORE
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Prairie View A&M suffered its second-consecutive heartbreaking loss in the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout as North Dakota State orchestrated a 61-56 victory after trailing by as much as 17 points in the first half and by 12 to start the second half on Wednesday Night.
The Lady Panthers struggled offensively in the second half as the Bison adjusted defensively to slow down senior forward Latia Williams. Williams, who went 8-for-8 from the field in the first 20 minutes, went 1-for-5 in the second half and finished with a game-high 20 points. Meanwhile the Bison began to hit their mark in the latter half. They outscored Prairie View A&M 19-7 in the first nine minutes of the half and tied it at 46-46 with two free throws by Holly Johnson with 11:14 left in the game.
NDSU took a 50-48 lead at the 5:31 mark when Marena Whittle hit a turnaround jumper. That was the first lead of the game for NDSU, and the Bison rode that momentum. After Larissa Scott tied it at 50 with two free throws, Hannah Linz from NDSU gave the Bison a 53-50 lead at the 4:34 mark. The Panthers played catch up from that point.
Prairie View A&M started off the game on fire, and jumped out to a 17-4 lead. Prairie View A&M went 6-for-7 from the field out of the gates, and Larissa Scott converted two two foul shots with 15:05 left in the half to go up by 13. Williams then drained a jumper with 13:07 left to take a 19-4 lead.
The Lady Panthers maintained their offensive domination on the way to a 39-27 halftime lead. Led Williams, who was simply on fire with 16 points and five rebounds on 8-for-8 shooting, Prairie View A&M shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first half. Kiara Etienne led the charge from the three-point line, knocking down three shots from the perimeter for nine points. Etienne was 3-for-4 from downtown. She finished with 11 points, while sophomore point guard Jeanette Jackson had nine points and six assists in the losing effort.
Williams' career point total jumped to 967 with her 20-point performance.
The Panthers (0-4) will have a brief break before heading to Memphis for a showdown against the Memphis Tigers on at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25 in the FedEx Forum.
