GARLAND, Texas - Prairie View A&M junior guard Latia "Momma" Williams carried her team in the second half of the 2012 SWAC Tournament Championship Game on Saturday evening, scoring 20-of-her-24 points in the final 20 minutes as the Lady Panthers beat Alcorn State 63-50 to cut the down the nets for their second-consecutive conference championship at the Special Events Center in Garland, Texas.Prairie View A&M coach Toyelle Wilson had some choice words to describe Williams after the win.
“Leadership. Veteran,” WIlson said. “The most consistent player all year. She should have been SWAC Player of the year.”
Williams, the SWAC Tournament MVP, scored over half of her team's second-half points as Prairie View went on to outscore Alcorn State 38-18 in the second half. The Lady Panthers used stifling defense to fuel their second half run and limited the Lady Braves to 24.1 percent shooting from the field, forcing 17 turnovers in the game.
Prairie View A&M went on a 19-3 run in the second half, which was capped off by a three-point play the old fashioned way by Williams with 4:58 left. This turned a 40-34 deficit into a 53-45 lead. Williams scored nine points during that stretch, and junior guard JaQuandria Williams added five of her seven points, also in that run.
“We played a really bad first half,” Wilson said. “We weren't playing as physical or aggressive as we normally do. But we made some half-time adjustments and obviously went to Latia Williams in the second half. I went to our bread and butter. I went to what got us here.”
Freshman center Larissa Scott saw her game of consecutive double-doubles end at four games, but she played a huge role in Prairie View A&M's SWAC Championship victory, scoring seven points and grabbing 10 boards.
“I had to pick up my performance,” Scott said. “Coach Wilson told us that only we can win the game, because we are the players on the floor. For me, I thought if I wasn't producing offensively, at least I could do it defensively.”
Scott had six defensive rebounds and three blocks.
Junior guard Kiara Etienne was doubtful for Saturday's game with a knee injury, but fought through the pain and proved to be the Prairie View A&M offense in the first half. She scored 10 first-half points, keeping her struggling team in the game. Etienne went 4-for-11 from the field, but the rest of the team shot a dismal 8-for-28 in the first half and entered the locker room trailing 32-25.
Wilson was overjoyed and at the same time relieved to win her second conference championship in just her second season as a head coach. Under her helm, the Lady Panthers have never lost a SWAC Tournament game (6-0). She has also tied former Prairie View A&M coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke for the most NCAA Tournament Appearances in school history with two.
“I don't like losing,” Wilson said. “You have to earn success. You can't take the elevator. You have to take the stairs. I told the girls the first flight was Alcorn State. The second flight was Mississippi Valley. I asked them if they were going to leave the legacy on the court as a champion or just another team. They responded.”
The Lady Panthers will find out their fate at 6 p.m. on Monday after watching the 2012 NCAA Women's Tournament Selection Show.BOX SCORE
Box Score
COURTESY: PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
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