BOX SCORE
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Prairie View A&M gave the No. 21 Kansas Jayhawks a run for their money as Latia Williams scored 21 points, grabbed six boards and went over the 1000-career point plateau in a 72-60 loss on Sunday. No other team this season had managed to score 60 points against the Jayhawks in Allen Fieldhouse.
With her 20-point game, Williams moved her career-point total to 1017, joining the elite 1000-point club at Prairie View A&M. The Lady Panthers fought tooth and nail in the second half to grind away at a 14-point halftime deficit. Prairie View A&M pulled to within two points at 57-55 with 5:50 left in the game when Williams converted an and-one layup and the foul. She then hit a pull up jumper with 5:04 left to tie the game. The Panthers had outscored Kansas 20-to-10 at that point in the second half.
“Kansas made some plays late in the game and executed in the last five minutes,” Prairie View A&M coach Toyelle Wilson said. “That's how they won the game. It definitely wasn't a 12-point game. They won by 12, but that definitely wasn't the case. I think we competed as well as I thought we could.”
Angel Goodrich responded to Williams' three-point play with her own layup through contact and the foul. She made the layup and gave her team a 60-57 lead. The Jayhawks went on a 12-3 run to close out the game and narrowly escaped their first home loss of the season by pulling away in the final minutes.
Prairie View A&M gave No. 21 Kansas all it could handle for the first 17 minutes of the first half, containing the Jayhawks leading scorer Carolyn Davis and getting a well-needed spark by Gabrielle Scott, who scored seven first half points.
Scott's three-point shot with 6:22 left in the first half cut Prairie View A&M's deficit to 23-20. Kansas then scored four unanswered points, but then Kiara Etienne countered with a fast break pull up three with an assist from LaReahn Washington to bring the score to within four points with 4:43 remaining. Both teams went on a scoring drought until two free throws by Davis with 3:22 left paved the way for a 10-0 run for Kansas to close out the first half and take a 37-23 lead into the locker room.
Etienne finished with 15 points and one assist to join Latia Williams as the only other player to score in double figures for the Lady Panthers. Led by Monica Engleman (19 points) every Kansas starter excluding Natalie Knight scored in the double digits.
Prairie View A&M hit the road to Toledo, Ohio to participate in the Toledo Invite. The Lady Panthers will play Hampton at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday in a first-round match up.
