HOUSTON – Prairie View A&M jumped out to an early lead in the first half and then withstood a second-half comeback attempt by the Houston Cougars as the Lady Panthers claimed a 61-56 victory Sunday at Hofheinz Pavilion.
 
Senior guard Jeanette Jackson (Las Vegas, Nev. / Sierra Vista HS) scored a season-high 28 points on 8-of-22 shooting to lead the Lady Panthers (2-6) to victory, their second triumph in as many games. Jackson also pulled in seven rebounds and handed out a game-high four assists for Prairie View A&M.
 
Jessieka Palmer scored 14 points and Marche' Amerson added 10 points to lead the Cougars, who fell to 3-4 with the defeat.
 
The win was Prairie View A&M's first-ever triumph over the Cougars in 16 attempts. Houston had won the previous 15 meetings in a series that dates back to the 1975-76 season. Prior to Sunday's win, the closest the Lady Panthers came to defeating Houston was a 59-56 loss at Houston in the team's second meeting of the aforementioned 1975-76 season
 
The only other PVAMU game against Houston that was decided in single-digits was a 96-90 double-overtime loss in Los Angeles at USC's Women of Troy classic in Dec. 2006.
 
In Sunday's game, the Cougars jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead before Prairie View A&M seized momentum in the first half by scoring 13 of the next 15 points and establishing a 13-6 lead with 10 minutes remaining. The Lady Panthers stretched their lead to 10 when Jackson knocked down a jumper in the paint with 7:52 remaining to give PVAMU an 18-8 lead.
 
The Cougars would briefly claw their way back to within seven of the lead in the first half, but a jumper by Jackson and 3-pointer from Alexus Parker (Savannah, Ga. / Calvary Day School) following a turnover and two PVAMU offensive rebounds gave the Panthers a 23-11 lead with 4:39 remaining. Jackson would stretch PVAMU's lead to 30-17 with 27 seconds remaining before the midgame break.
 
Prairie View A&M shot 41 percent (11 of 27) from the floor in the first half while holding the Cougars to 5-of-23 shooting (22 percent).
 
The Lady Panthers led by as many as 16 points early in the second half, but the Cougars came out determined after halftime and kept clawing their way back with long runs. Houston turned a 37-23 deficit into a seven-point game with seven unanswered points between the 15:12 and 12:39 marks of the second half.
 
After Lamaria Cole (Bryan, Texas / Kansas) came away with a fast-break layup to stretch the PVAMU lead to 40-30 with 11:56 remaining, the Cougars clamped down and ran off a 16-5 run to give themselves a 46-45 lead with 5:49 remaining. A 3-pointer and two free throws by Jackson were the only points for the Lady Panthers during that stretch.
 
But the momentum that Houston seized in the middle stages of the second half finally sputtered out in the waning minutes. Trailing 51-50, PVAMU's Shamiya Brooks (West Point, Ga. / Troupe HS) regained the lead for the Lady Panthers with a putback off a missed 3-pointer from Parker. After the Panthers forced Houston into missing a trey at the other end, Brooks again picked up an offensive rebound and converted it for two points.
 
The two baskets were Brooks' only four points of the game, but they couldn't have come at a better time as they helped the Lady Panthers build a 54-51 lead with 1:27 remaining. Brooks pulled in seven of her eight rebounds in the game off the offensive glass.
 
Jackson would sink two more free throws to stretch PVAMU's lead back to six points with 47 seconds remaining, but the Cougars answered with a trey from Alecia Smith 10 seconds later. The Cougars opted to foul Shaneece Stephens (Port Lucie, Fla. / Brevard CC) immediately, and were rewarded when she missed both free throws.
 
But the home team's joy was short-lived when Stephens redeemed herself with a steal in the backcourt. After she was fouled again, she knocked down one out of two free throws to move the PVAMU lead to 57-54 with 28 seconds remaining.
 
Another Houston turnover meant the Cougars had to foul again, this time fouling Jackson, who sank two more free throws to improve the PVAMU lead to 59-54 with 22 seconds left. The Cougars were able to get a basket on the other end of the floor, but couldn't muster a turnover as Monique Abbs (Phoenix, Ariz. / Stone Mountain CC) sealed the game at the free throw line.
 
Stephens finished the game with seven points. Larissa Scott (Cypress, Texas / Cy Falls HS) added six points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Prairie View A&M.
 
The Lady Panthers return to action Saturday when they head to Fort Worth to face TCU. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.