BOX SCORE QUEENS, N.Y. - The Lady Panthers showed flashes of greatness during a second-half comeback attempt, but their early deficit was too large to recover from as they suffered a 53-45 loss to Drexel in their final game of the St. John's Chartwell's Classic.
The Lady Panthers, under the direction of coach Dawn Brown, outscored Drexel 27-22 in the second half and won the turnover battle too in the final 20 minutes. The Dragons had 10 turnovers, while Prairie View A&M committed four as junior point guard Jeanette Jackson and company took better care of the ball.
Trailing 31-18 after 20 minutes, Prairie View A&M came out of the second half fighting to get back in the game, holding Drexel scoreless for the first two minutes as Jackson drained a three with 17:40 remaining to pull the game back within reach at 10 points. She then made two free throws to cut her team's deficit to 31-23. Prairie View A&M received a big boost from a LaReahn Washington three with 15:56 left to cut Drexel's lead to 33-26. That was a part of a 8-2 run to start off the second half.Â
Drexel, however, managed to counter the run and extend its lead to double digits. The Dragons held off the Lady Panthers attack as Prairie View A&M suffered through a five-minute scoreless streak that dealt a blow to its plans of taking out the defending WNIT champions.
Jackson finished with a game-high 23 points, four assists and two rebounds, while redshirt sophomore guard Gabrielle Scott provided 7 points (all in the first half), five rebounds and three assists to finish as the Lady Panthers' second-leading scorer.
The Lady Panthers relied heavily on the play of their guards in the first half, looking to get Gabrielle Scott involved in the offense early. Gabrielle Scott led the team with eight field goal attempts at the half, going 3-for-8 from the field with seven points to lead the team. Jackson provided five points and three assist for Prairie View A&M as she tried to keep her team in the game. Â
Drexel started the contest off shooting 80 percent from the field, including 4-of-6 from downtown to jump out on the Lady Panthers by 14 points at 21-7 before Jackson hit a three-pointer with 11:39 remaining to cut her team's deficit to 11 points.
Jackson averaged 21.5 points and four assists during the St. John's Chartwell's Holiday Classic and was named to the All-Tournament Team. She looks to lead Prairie View A&M to its first victory vs. Central Michigan at noon on Wednesday in Mt. Pleasant, Mich.Â
