BOX SCORE BATON ROUGE, La. — The Prairie View A&M women's basketball season came to a close after the team suffered a heartbreaking 59-55 loss to defending champions Southern in the quarterfinal round of the 2020 Cricket Wireless Southwestern Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament.

Despite a late fourth quarter surge, the Panthers' strong start was derailed by a cold spell in the third quarter.

Down 6-0 early in the first quarter, an 11-0 run led by sophomore Keaynna Tolbert gave Prairie View an 11-6 lead over Southern. The Jaguars stayed in striking distance, but a jumper from senior Ke'Asia Williams sent the Panthers into the second period up 13-10.

Baskets from senior Dominique Newman and freshman Diana Rosenthal increased the lead to 17-10 in the second quarter. Southern managed to pull within two, but an 8-0 run led by freshman Kennedi Heard opened up a 10-point PVAMU lead with 4:01 left in the half. Free throws and a jumper from freshman Jadah Martin allowed Prairie View to take a 29-20 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, four straight points from Rosenthal increased the Panthers' lead to 33-20. But after another basket from Williams, the Panthers offense began to struggle and the Jaguars capitalized with a 14-0 run to take a 36-35 run heading into the final period.

After a back-and-forth battle early in the final frame, a 7-0 Southern run left the Panthers down 51-44 at the 4:08 mark. Four straight points from Heard cut the deficit to 51-48. A Williams lay-up brought Prairie View A&M within one possession in the final seconds, but a pair of free throws from Brittany Rose late sealed it for Southern.

Heard led the team with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, six rebounds, three steals and one assist. Rosenthal followed with 11 points, three rebounds and two assists. Williams contributed 10 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal.