PRAIRIE VIEW — Behind a career effort from freshman
Diana Rosenthal, the Prairie View A&M women's basketball team celebrated the end of its holiday break with a 79-60 win over the Huston Tillotson University on Monday afternoon in the Baby Dome.
The Panthers' fast play allowed them to quickly overpower the Rams, as Prairie View A&M (3-9) opened the game with 10 unanswered points, and consecutive lay-ups by freshmen
Rachel Williams and senior
Ke'Asia Williams led to a 16-4 lead. With Prairie View A&M suffocating the Rams early, Rosenthal caught fire with nine straight points as the Panthers took a 25-6 lead into the second quarter.
"We had a pretty good first quarter defensively," PVAMU Assistant Coach
Sean LeBeauf said. "We got a little too comfortable too early, and that showed a lack of maturity. The good thing is we came out with the win. The team had 21 assists on 24 baskets, which shows they were looking for each other and sharing the basketball."
The Panthers continued to dominate as a layup from senior
Mariah Campbell opened up a 9-0 run for PVAMU in the second quarter. The team was up 36-8, before Huston-Tillotson got hot from the three-point line and cut the lead down to 36-17. Freshman
Kennedi Heard responded with a corner three of her own as the Panthers took a 42-17 lead to intermission.
After a 7-3 Rams run cut the Panthers' lead to 45-26, grad transfer Tatyanna Perez scored five straight points to extend the lead to 50-27. A back-and-forth battle ensued but Prairie View A&M maintained a 64-37 advantage heading into the fourth, which held strong the rest of the way despite a late Rams run.
Rosenthal posted a career high 27 points on 11-17 shooting, seven rebounds, two steals and one assist. K. Williams followed with 12 points, four assists, four steals, three rebounds and one block. R. Williams also contributed with eight points, one rebound and one steal.
Next up:
The Panthers will open league play with a matchup against Alcorn State on Saturday, January 4 with a 3 p.m. start in the Baby Dome.
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