GAME NOTES
A talented Prairie View A&M women's basketball team looks to turn its fortunes around in Memphis, Tenn. as it searches for its first win of the season against a 3-1 Memphis Tigers squad at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the Elma Roane Fieldhouse.
The Lady Panthers have been so close that they could taste the victories, but late leads and closable deficits have slipped away in three close losses for Prairie View A&M.
“The girls have to play 40-full minutes of basketball,” Prairie View A&M coach Toyelle Wilson said. “I think we've displayed that we can compete with anybody with the way we've played so far. We just haven't finished games out...Although we have lost all of our games, we have taken something away from each game.”
Wilson and the Lady Panthers (0-4) have to put their three-consecutive narrow losses behind them and focus on slowing down Memphis' multi-dimensional scoring threat Nicole Dickson, the 6-foot forward is averaging 24.3 points per game and has proven to be a threat inside and out. She leads the team in three-pointers made and field goals inside the arc. She also leads the team with 7.8 rebounds per contest.
“We have to know where she is at all times and make every shot she takes a tough and contested shot,” Wilson said. “She's going to get her points, but we can't let anybody else get theirs.”
The Lady Panthers have been able to count on seniors Latia Williams (15.5 ppg, 9.8 rpg) and Kiara Etienne (16 ppg) as reliable scoring options. Sophomore center Larissa Scott (9.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg) is gradually developing into a third option, but Wilson and the Prairie View A&M coaching staff is looking for more out of the team.
“We're trying to find a Big 3,” Wilson said. “But we're looking for a fourth scorer too. All the coaches agree that we are looking for the fourth person to step up and help the other three. Latia (Williams) and Kiara (Etienne) are only two-of-five people on the court. Everybody has to be an option.”
