COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers return from the Christmas holiday break for one final non-conference game Tuesday when they visit the Aggies of Texas A&M. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Texas A&M's Reed Arena, and will be aired on the SEC Network +, and WatchESPN.
The Lady Panthers (4-4) are off to their best eight-game start since the 2010-11 season. Prairie View A&M opened the season with a 4-1 record, marking their best start through five games since the 1986-87 season, but went into the Christmas break following a winless three-game trip to Georgia Tech and Wichita State.
The Aggies (9-3) entered Sunday ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press poll, and No. 14 in the USA Today/Coaches poll. Texas A&M is the only ranked team to appear on the Lady Panthers' schedule thus far.
Last Time Out …
The Lady Panthers concluded their pre-Christmas schedule with a pair of losses at the Papa John's Shocker Winter Classic, hosted by Wichita State on December 18 and 19.Â
- The setbacks were the second and third consecutive losses for the Lady Panthers, who started the trip with a 96-48 loss at Georgia Tech.
- Lamaria Cole led the Lady Panthers with 14 points and five steals in a 64-36 loss to Wichita State. The loss to the Shockers marked the first time Prairie View A&M has been held under 40 points since an 88-37 loss at Florida State on Nov. 17, 2013.
- Cole and Jeronia Allen scored 17 points apiece in PVAMU's last game, a 79-58 setback to North Dakota State. The Bison used a 10-0 run over the last six minutes of the third quarter to take a 50-37 lead and give themselves a comfortable advantage.
Cole leading the SWAC
Senior guard
Lamaria Cole leads the Southwestern Athletic in four categories, including three major statistical categories.
- Cole's 17.0 points per game leads the SWAC in scoring, while her 4.6 assists and 3.5 steals per game also leads the conference in those categories. Her 3.5 steals per game currently ranks 11th nationally.
- With 37 assists and 38 turnovers, her 0.97 assists-to-turnover ratio tops the conference. No other player in the league has a ratio better than 0.84.
- Cole ranks in the SWAC's top 10 in four other categories. She ranks third in minutes played per game (34.8) and fifth in free throw percentage (22 of 34, 64.7 percent).
- Cole's 3-point shooting ranks her ninth in two categories – 3-point percentage (8 of 35, 22.9 percent) and 3-pointers made per game (1.0).
Lady Panthers among the nation's leaders
After eight games played, Prairie View A&M ranks among the nation's top 40 teams in four categories.
- Prairie View A&M ranks in the nation's top 20 in both offensive rebounds per game (18th, 17.0 per game), and steals (20th, 11.3 per game).
- The Lady Panthers have committed 120 personal fouls this season, which ranks third behind only Pennsylvania (96) of the Ivy League, and No. 1 Connecticut (109). The Lady Panthers 15.0 personal fouls per game rank 38th nationally.
- Two Lady Panthers rank in the top 10 in individual statistics – Lamaria Cole's 3.5 steals per game ranks ninth in the nation, and Larissa Scott's 7.0 offensive rebounds per contest leads all NCAA Division I players. Scott also ranks 11th nationally with 11.6 total rebounds per game.
Scott commands early attention
Senior forward
Larissa Scott has made the most of her fifth year after being granted a medical redshirt following the 2014-15 season in which she played only five games due to injury.
- Scott claimed the SWAC's first two Player of the Week honors this season, averaging 17.7 and 16.0 rebounds per contest in the three games during that span.
- Her 16.0 rebounds per game in PVAMU's first three contests led the nation, while her 10 blocked shots in the team's first trio of games ranked eighth in the nation.
- Through the team's first eight games, Scott is averaging 12.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game, exceeding the pace of her season best of 8.3 in both categories (8.3 points per game as sophomore, 8.3 rebounds per game as a junior).
- As the Lady Panthers' non-conference season progressed, opponents have made a point to limit Scott's rebounding totals; she was held to eight rebounds or fewer during the Lady Panthers' recent three-game road trip.
- Her 11.6 rebounds per game currently ranks 11th in the NCAA's Division I, and leads the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
- Scott currently leads the nation in offensive rebounds per game, grabbing an average of seven off the offensive glass per contest.
Comforts of (close to) Home
The Lady Panthers play six of this season's nine non-conference games in Texas and Louisiana.
- The team has two home games (Howard Payne and Lamar) and games at TCU and Texas A&M.
- The Lady Panthers were 3-3 in road games and neutral-site games fewer than 100 miles away from the Prairie View A&M campus last season.
Starting the year right (1980s edition)
The Lady Panthers' 4-4 record going into Tuesday's contest at Texas A&M matches the team's best start since the 2010-11 season.
- The Lady Panthers started the year 4-1, matching their best start since the 1986-87 season.Â
- Viewed through the lenses of today's college basketball hierarchy, the current Lady Panthers squad has the edge over their 1986 counterparts in terms of strength of schedule.
- The 2015-16 Lady Panthers are 3-1 against NCAA Division I opponents after opening the season with a win over NCAA Division III Howard Payne (Texas).
- The 1986-87 team went 1-1 against NCAA Division I opponents – a 67-55 loss at Nicholls State and an 84-66 win over Arkansas–Little Rock – and 3-0 against in-state NAIA programs Wiley College, Paul Quinn College, and Mary Hardin-Baylor (now an NCAA Division III member institution).
Juggling the lineups
Prairie View A&M head coach
Dawn Brown has used four different lineups this season.
- The starting lineup of three guards (Tori Carter, Lamaria Cole, Alexus Parker), and two forwards (Jeronia Allen, Larissa Scott) has taken the court four times this season, and the team has a 3-1 record in those games. This lineup started in all three wins over NCAA Division I opponents.
- The two-guard (Cole and Parker), two-forward (Allen and Scott) and one-center (Lanikki McMillian) lineup has started two games, with a 1-1 record.
Team leaders lead in crunch time
The Lady Panthers' top two scorers this season –
Lamaria Cole and
Larissa Scott – have embraced spotlight in crunch time. The seniors are the team's top scorers in the fourth quarter of games this season.
- Cole and Scott have taken more than half of the team's fourth-quarter shots (64), and are shooting 54.6 percent in the final 10 minutes (35 of 64).
- All other players are shooting 33.8 percent from the floor (25 of 74) in the fourth quarter.
- Scott averages 3.9 points and 2.8 rebounds per fourth quarter and has drained 60 percent (15 of 25) of her shots.
- Cole is averaging 5.9 points in the fourth quarter, and has shot 51.3 percent (20 of 39) from the floor.
- Jeronia Allen (the only other player besides Cole and Scott to start every PVAMU game this season) has a 1.2 assists-to-turnover ratio in the fourth quarter of games this season – the only player with a figure above 1.0 – and has made 80 percent of her fourth-quarter free throws (8 of 10).
Lady Panthers leading the SWAC
Through their first eight games, the Lady Panthers leads the Southwestern Athletic Conference in five team statistical categories. Prairie View A&M leads the conference in:
- Scoring (65.8 points per game)
- Scoring Margin (only -4.8 points per game)Â
- After the team's 4-1 start to the season, the Lady Panthers' average margin of victory was 11.8 points per game – the only scoring margin in the SWAC above 0.0 at the time.
- Field goal percentage (216 of 518, 41.7 percent)
- Assists (12.0 assists per game)
- Steals (11.3 steals per game)
- Lamaria Cole and Larissa Scott rank Nos. 1 and 2 in the SWAC in steals per game, with 3.5 steals and 2.6 steals per game, respectively.
Allen steps into starting roleJeronia Allen, a 5-foot-10 forward from Minden, La., wasted no time establishing herself as a key member of the Lady Panthers' lineup. She was one of two transfers – along with
Lanikki McMillian – from Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Miss.
- She averaged 8.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game during her junior college career.
- Allen averaged 11.6 points and 5.1 rebounds per game during her sophomore season in 2014-15, and helped lead her team to the NJCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament.
- This season, Allen has scored at least 16 points in three times this season.
- Her 4.9 rebounds per game average ranks third on the team.
- She opened the season with 22-point performance in an exhibition win over Our Lady of the Lake (Texas).
About the Aggies
The Aggies and Lady Panthers will square off for the 20th time in Tuesday's game. The Aggies enter the game with a 9-3 record.
- Courtney Walker (5-8, G, Sr.) and Courtney Williams (6-1, F, Sr.) lead the Aggies with scoring averages of 17.1 and 14.9 points per game, respectively.
- The Aggies are 17-2 all-time against Prairie View A&M. The Lady Panthers' lone wins came two days apart in 1975.
- Prairie View A&M is the Aggies' second SWAC opponent this season. They defeated Southern 88-47 in the Texas A&M's second game of the season.
