PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Tori Carter's layup with two seconds remaining gave Prairie View A&M a thrilling 92-91 win Sunday over Our Lady of the Lake in the Lady Panthers' exhibition opener to the 2015-16 season.
 
Prairie View A&M guard Lamaria Cole (pictured) turned in a double-double performance of 22 points and 11 assists, with no assist more important than the one she threw nearly the length of the court to set up Carter's game-winning shot.
 
Trailing by a single point with eight seconds remaining, the Lady Panthers forced an OLLU turnover and and Cole came away with the basketball under the Prairie View A&M basket. The 2014 transfer from Kansas then tossed a desperation heave to the front court, where Carter retrieved the pass at the top of the key and then drove in for the game-winning score.
 
Cole's double-double was one of three for the Lady Panthers on Sunday. Alexus Parker scored 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while teammate Larissa Scott chipped in 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in addition to five assists.
 
Prairie View A&M fans got their first look at some of head coach Dawn Brown's newcomers. Junior college transfer Jeronia Allen (Minden, La./Itawamba CC) commanded the spotlight, scoring 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Carter, a Division I transfer from (UNC) Charlotte, scored nine points for Prairie View A&M.
 
Sonji Green scored 20 points and pulled in 10 rebounds for Our Lady of the Lake, a perennially strong NAIA member school in San Antonio. The Saints (0-1) enter this season as the No. 7 team in the NAIA's Division I.
 
In the first game played at Prairie View with the new timing rules for collegiate women's basketball, the Lady Panthers trailed 67-60 entering the third quarter, but quickly seized control with a 21-7 run over the first five and half minutes of the fourth quarter.
 
After Allen knocked down a layup to stretch PVAMU's lead to 83-76 lead with 3:23 left to play in the game, the Saints came storming back with eight consecutive points over the next minute. Whitney Sandmann reclaimed the lead with a 3-pointer with 2:22 left to play, but the Lady Panthers answered right back with a 3-pointer from Allen, with Cole providing the assist.
 
OLLU appeared to take the lead for good when Julia Rendon knocked down a 3-pointer with 32 seconds remaining, but the Lady Panthers answered two seconds later when Lanikki McMillian knocked down the second of her two treys in the game to cut the Saints' lead to 91-90.
 
With the shot clock off and the Lady Panthers having committed only two fouls in the quarter, they immediately fouled twice and were looking to send the Saints to the line for the two-shot bonus with the fifth team foul of the quarter under the new rules. But on the third OLLU throw-in, the Saints throw-in was errant, allowing Cole to complete her in-game heroics.
 
Though the statistics were unofficial as it was an exhibition game, Cole became the first Lady Panthers player to reach double-digits in assists since Jeanette Jackson had 12 against Alabama A&M on March 1, 2014.
 
The Lady Panthers officially open the 2015-16 season Friday at noon when the team hosts Howard Payne at the William J. Nicks Building "Baby Dome."
 
TWEET of the GAME:

Tori Carter's layup with two seconds remaining gives the Lady Panthers a 92-91 victory over Our Lady of the Lake!

— PVAMU Panthers (@PVAMUPanthers) November 9, 2015