BOX SCORE
Saturday's women's basketball contest lived up to the billing as both PVAMU and Texas Southern put its winning streaks on the line. Unfortunately, the Lady Panthers came out on the wrong end of the ledger in an emotional 74-70 loss in front of a sellout crowd inside the Baby Dome.
TSU jumped out to an 8-2 margin before the Lady Panthers rallied to draw within 8-7 after Jeanette Jackson's trey. The Lady Panthers tied the game at 13-all on a pair of free throws by Alexus Parker but lost the momentum shortly thereafter as TSU went on a 11-2 run to claim a 25-14 lead with 9:56 remaining.
Sensing the game slipping away, the Lady Panthers stepped it up a notch as Jackson and LaReahn Washington scored the next five points followed by a basket from Shamiya Brooks to close within 24-22. Once again, TSU responded as Briana Sidney scored six straight points for a 32-26 lead but the Lady Panthers came charging back as Jackson hit five consecutive points to draw within 32-31 with 1:19 left. TSU's Sarah Williams nailed a basket 19 seconds later to send the Lady Panthers into the locker room ahead 33-31.
Jackson scored the first three points for the Lady Panthers as they moved on top 36-35 with 17:32 remaining in the second half. However, for the third straight time TSU found ways to snatch the lead in big chunks as they went on an 18-4 run over the next six minutes en route to a 53-40 advantage at the 11:14 mark.
The Lady Panthers came out on fire from that point and moved into another gear as Brooks, Jackson and Washington combined to score 20 points as PVAMU went on a 20-7 surge to close within 61-60 with 4:50 left in regulation. After an Asha Hampton-Finch block, TSU's Alexus Johnson scored on a jumper for 63-60 margin but Brooks scored big-time layup to keep PVAMU within one at 63-62 at the 3:48 mark.
An untimely technical foul by Prairie View A&M with 2:52 remaining allowed TSU to move ahead 65-62 following two free throws from Ashley Ferguson. After a missed TSU shot, Sidney hit consecutive treys to move TSU on top 72-61 at the 1:40 mark but the Lady Panthers stormed back as Alexus Parker, Jackson and Brooks scored the next nine points to claw back within 71-70 on Brooks' putback.
With 17 seconds left on the clock, TSU's Jazzmin Parker hit two free throws to move ahead 73-70 and PVAMU had a hectic final seconds as they missed a pair of shots and two free throws. Parker was fouled with four seconds left and hit 1-of-2 free throws to seal the contest.
Jackson scored 27 for Prairie View A&M and dished out five assists while Brooks picked up her second straight double-double with 13 points, 13 rebounds and four boards. Washington scored 16 and pulled down six rebounds in 38 minutes of action.
The Lady Panthers return to action next week as they'll host Jackson State at 3 p.m. inside the Baby Dome. Next week's game is the team's annual Pink Game which promotes breast cancer awareness.
