PV Lady Panthers Move On To Semifinals Of SWAC Tournament

GARLAND, Texas  -  The Prairie View A&M Lady Panthers held off a furious comeback by Jackson State and counted on a few late defensive stands and clutch free throw shooting to come away with a 66-60 win on Thursday in the Curtis Culwell Center to advance to the semifinal round of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament.

Prairie View A&M led by as much as 25 points in the second half thanks to a heroic 18-point performance off the bench by redshirt freshman Gabrielle Scott and a double-double by senior forward Latia Williams. However, the Lady Tigers made their run. Jackson State outscored the Lady Panthers 34-29 in the second half and cut a 54-29 PV lead to two points at 62-60 with 30 seconds remaining in the game.

 

With 22 seconds left, senior guard Kiara Etienne went to the line with her team up by two points, needing to knock down a pair of clutch free throws. She drained both of them to ice the game as Prairie View held Jackson State scoreless in the final two offensive possessions.

 

In her first SWAC Tournament appearance Scott was a spark plug for Prairie View A&M, providing 18 of Prairie View A&M's 22 bench points. The Lady Panthers used a devastating run at the end of the first half to stun Jackson State and force coach Surina Dixon to take a timeout to stop the bleeding. Prairie View A&M went on a 10-3 run that was capped off by a Scott jumper with 1:17 remaining to give her team a 34-23 lead. After Jackson State's timeout, the Lady Tigers cut into Prairie View A&M's lead with a three by Beatrice Banks. Prairie View A&M sophomore point guard Jeanette Jackson, however, took away any semblance of momentum by draining a three of her own to give the Lady Panthers a 37-26 lead heading into the locker room.

 

Scott was an assassin from the field in the first half. She came off of the bench and shot 5-for-6 from the field including a 3-for-3 showing from downtown as she led all players with 13 points at the half. Williams turned in her ninth double-double of the season and her 20th career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Etienne also provided 16 points and two rebounds for Prairie View A&M.

 

With the win the Lady Panthers improved to 7-0 in SWAC Tournament games under the guidance of coach Toyelle Wilson. They also picked up their sixth-consecutive victory dating back to the regular season. Prairie View A&M is riding the momentum of its longest win streak of the season heading into its 5:30 p.m. against SWAC rival Texas Southern in Garland. TSU was one of only two SWAC schools to sweep the Lady Panthers in a regular season series this season, but the losses were close and decided by an average of six points.

 

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