GAME NOTES
At 3-2 the Lady Panthers currently sit at fourth place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference standings thanks to a two-game win streak. Prairie View A&M has a chance to create separation between itself and fifth-place Mississippi Valley with a win in its 3 p.m. game against the Devilettes on Saturday in Itta Bena, Miss.
Mississippi Valley (6-10, 3-2 SWAC) will have its hands full trying to contain senior forward Latia Williams. In her five SWAC games Williams is averaging 14.4 points and 10.8 rebounds. She is the only player to average a double-double in conference play. On the season Williams is putting up 14.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists, currently second in the conference in each statistical category. No other player in the conference even ranks in the Top 5 in every one of those categories.
She led the Lady Panthers with a game-high 17 points in a 59-53 win over Jackson State at home in the William Nicks Building on Monday to help Prairie View string together two wins in a row for the first time this season. She recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds in a 79-58 win over Grambling State on Jan. 12.
In Monday's victory Williams received help in the form of senior guard JaQuandria Williams, who provided 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench to give the Lady Panthers a spark. They will look to JaQuandria Williams, senior guard Kiara Etienne (11.2 ppg) and redshirt freshman guard Gabrielle Scott (7.1 ppg) to spread the floor with their three-point range while Latia Williams goes to work from mid-range and inside.
Defensively Prairie View A&M coach Toyelle Wilson will scheme to stop Alia Frank (11.9 ppg), Joncyee Sanders and the MVSU offense. Frank leads the team in points and rebounds and is the only Devilettes player to average double figures in scoring. Sanders averages 8.4 points and leads the SWAC with 5.2 assists per game.
The Lady Panthers are 18-40 all-time against Mississippi Valley and 4-24 against the Devilettes on the road in the Harrison HPER Complex. Wilson is currently 3-2 when coaching against Mississippi Valley, but she has never coached head-to-head against Devilettes first-year coach Elvis Robinson.
Prairie View defeated MVSU 58-55 the last time the teams played, which was on March 9, 2012 in the SWAC Tournament semi-final round.
