PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday as they defeated Alcorn State 58-54 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
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Prairie View A&M senior forward
Larissa Scott recorded a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling in 15 rebounds. The SWAC's leading rebounder, Scott, who also ranks 11th nationally in rebounding, reached double figuress in caroms for the first time since Dec. 5.
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Alexus Parker also scored 13 points for the Lady Panthers (5-5, 1-0 SWAC).
Lamaria Cole came off the bench for the first time this season and scored 12 points for Prairie View A&M.
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Alcorn State's Norianna Haynes, the leading scorer in the SWAC, scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Lady Braves. Tori Danielle Spann and Ashtin McNichols scored 11 points and 10 points, respectively, for Alcorn State.
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The Lady Panthers return to action Monday when they host Southern in the first game of a SWAC doubleheader with the Jaguars. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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HOW IT HAPPENED - The Lady Braves opened the game quickly, jumping out to a 6-0 lead less than 90 seconds into the game before stretching their lead to 10-0 by the 6:03 mark of the first period.
- Consecutive 3-pointers from Chelsey Rosier and Cole 34 seconds apart quickly cut the Alcorn State lead to four points with 4:21 left in the first period.
- PVAMU scored the last eight points of the period and 14 of the final 16 points of the period to take a 14-12 lead after 10 minutes.
- The Lady Panthers led by as many as six points (20-14) in the second quarter when Cole took an outlet pass from Alexus Parker and converted a fast-break layup with 2:18 remaining. Prairie View A&M took a 22-20 lead into halftime.
- A 17-5 run between the 8:03 and 3:01 marks of the third quarter gave the Lady Panthers their largest lead of the game at 41-29. Jeronia Allen scored six of her eight points in the game during that stretch.
- A 7-0 Alcorn State run between the 3:22 and 1:33 marks in the fourth period cut the Lady Panthers' lead to 54-49, before Allen put the game out of reach with a jumper with 53 seconds left in the game.
- Prairie View A&M shot 42.9 percent (15 of 35) from the field in the second half, while limiting the Lady Braves to 26.7 percent (8 of 30) from the field during the second and third quarters.
- The Lady Panthers forced 25 Alcorn turnovers during the game (and collecting 13 steals), while only committing 17 of their own.
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GAME NOTES
- The Lady Panthers shot 34.3 percent (23 of 67) from the field during the game, while Alcorn State shot 35.7 percent (20 of 56); PVAMU won its first game of the season in which they were outshot from the floor.
- Prairie View A&M improved to 5-1 in games in which they commit fewer turnovers than their opponent, and 4-0 in games in which they took a lead into halftime.
- The Lady Panthers' bench outscored Alcorn State 26-2, with Cole (12 points), Allen (eight points) and Rosier (six points) accounting for all of PVAMU's non-starter points.
- Cole and Allen's sum of 20 points off the bench were a bit of an outlier for the Lady Panthers, as each player was out of the starting lineup for the first time this season.
- Scott recorded four assists in the game, which set a season high, while Allen's three assists and four steals in the game were each a season high for the juco transfer.
- Rosier's six points (2-of-3 from 3-point range) were her first points since Dec. 18 at Wichita State. The six-point showing was also her best against Division I competition this season.
- Prairie View A&M won a game while scoring fewer than 60 points for the first time since the team's 59-51 win at Grambling State last season (Feb. 16).
- The Lady Panthers won a regular-season contest over Alcorn State for the first time in nearly two years, having defeated the Lady Braves in a SWAC game 71-68 (Jan. 6, 2014).
- Alcorn State now leads the all-time series 53-22 since the advent of the NCAA's women's basketball era. Prairie View A&M has won nine of the last 13 meetings.
- Prairie View A&M's 5-5 record matches their best 10-game start since the 1986-87 season. The Lady Panthers are 1-0 to start conference play for the first time since the 2012-13 season, when they won 64-52 at Alcorn State.
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TWEET of the GAME
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