#SWACWBB Recaps: January 5
Today’s Scores:
Grambling State 80, Alabama State 72
Prairie View A&M 55, Southern 54
Alcorn State 53, Texas Southern 52
Mississippi Valley State 62, UAPB 56
Alabama A&M 58, Jackson State 55
Grambling’s Hill scores 32, Lady Tigers outlast Lady Hornets
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Shakyla Hill scored 20 of her game-high 32 points in the second half as the Grambling State University women’s basketball team outlasted Alabama State and spoiled the Lady Hornets’ Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opener with an 80-72 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
Grambling State (4-9 overall, 1-0 SWAC) led 17-15 at the one quarter and outscored Alabama State in the second, 23-17, to take a 40-32 advantage into the half. The Lady Hornets (1-11, 0-1) outscored Grambling State, 22-16, and closed the gap to 22-16 to set the stage for an exciting fourth quarter.
With the Lady Tigers up 56-54 entering the final quarter, Alabama State tied the game at 60 with 6:40 left after a pair of free throws by Jayla Crawford, but Grambling State used a 12-5 run, capped on a Hill bucket, to give the Lady Tigers a 72-65 lead with 1:59 remaining. The Lady Hornets closed the gap to 75-72 after a Crawford layup with 31 seconds left. However, that would be as close as Alabama State would get as Hill four out of the final five points to give Grambling State the 80-72 victory.
Hill, who played all 40 minutes, led all scorers with 32 points, on 10-of-26 shooting from the floor, but was 12-of-14 from, the free-throw line. She also added six rebounds, six assists and four steals. Justice Coleman registered 13 points, eight boards, two assists and two steals, while Camryn London recorded a career-high 13 points, including four 3-pointers, along with three rebounds, two steals and one assist.
Ayana Emmanuel paced Alabama State with 30 points, on 10-of-13 from the field, along with three rebounds and one steal. Jayla Crawford tallied 18 points, two boards, one assist and one steal, while Shmya Ward registered 17 points, five rebounds, three blocks, one steal and one assist.
- Grambling State Sports Information
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Ford pushes Prairie View past Southern in Pugh’s return
BATON ROUGE, La.. – The Prairie View A&M women’s basketball team defeated Southern University 55-54 on Saturday in the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
This was Head PVAMU women's basketball Coach Sandy Pugh’s first game back to Baton Rouge since ending her 18-season tenure as Southern’s head coach.
The Lady Panthers took an early 3-0 lead in the opening minutes of the game. A made three-pointer by freshman guard Keaynna Tolbert then put the Panthers up 6-2 with 5:02 left in the quarter. The first tie was at six points with seven lead changes in the entire game. Then again at 12-12 as the two teams went into the second quarter.
Senior guard Shala Dobbins gave the team their only lead of the second quarter at 15-12, after making both a hard shot at the basket to include an and one. PVAMU struggled from the field, but their 7-9 free throw shooting kept them close in tow as they went into the half only trailing 22-20.
Dobbins led with seven points at halftime.
PVAMU kept a two-point deficit for most of the third quarter. They were unable to push ahead, but ended the quarter tied 37-37 after a three-pointer from Dobbins in the closing minute of the period.
Both teams tied three times throughout the fourth quarter. PVAMU then took control late in the period after a three-pointer from senior center Artavia Ford, which gave the Panthers a 50-45 lead.
Prairie View was down by one in the final seconds of the game before a layup by Ford and a charge taken by Tolbert ultimately sealed the 55-54 win.
Dobbins led the team with a season-high 23 points, and eight rebounds. Ford followed behind with 15 points, three rebounds and two blocks, after just two quarters of play.
- PVAMU Athletics Communications
QUICK HITS:
- Alcorn State opened Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play with a 53-52 victory over Texas Southern Saturday afternoon at the Davey L. Whitney Complex, staving off a late comeback attempt by the Lady Tigers. The Lady Braves (2-11, 1-0 SWAC) led the entire fourth quarter, but Texas Southern (4-8, 0-1) clawed within one before late looks by Niya Mitchell and Marquia Turner were off the mark.
- De’Asia Brown led Alcorn with 15 points, and Jada Hargrove added nine points and five steals. TSU had three players score 10 points: Turner, Catherine Okwilagwe and Richelle Velez. Mitchell grabbed 13 rebounds to go with seven points.
- Behind an 18-point effort from LaKendra Bassett, Mississippi Valley State defeated Arkansas-Pine Bluff 62-56 to open SWAC play. The Devilettes (2-10, 1-0) had three players in double figures: Bassett, Makayla Bonner (17 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and Kristy Parker (12 points, nine rebounds).
- Aiya El Hassan led UAPB (2-5, 0-1) with 11 points, and Kyeonia Harris added 10 points.
- Alabama A&M pushed its win streak to four after fending off a late Jackson State charge to win its SWAC opener 58-55. The Lady Bulldogs (6-6, 1-0) led 48-38 entering the fourth, but Jackson State (4-8, 0-1) twice tied the game late. However, clutch free throw shooting preserved the win for AAMU. Ashlyn Dotson led the Lady Bulldogs with 16 points, and Carnethia Brown added 11 points.
- Kaisah Lucky of Jackson State led all players with 20 points, also grabbing five rebounds. Reigning SWAC Player of the Week Marneisha Hamer scored 10 points along with six rebounds.