Alabama State outlasts Southern women 60-59 in overtime

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The Alabama State women tried to secure an overtime victory but missed seven of eight free-throw attempts to keep Southern alive.

Then after Britney Washington put the Jaguars ahead by a point on a driving basket with eight seconds left, teammate Tashi-ana Thompson was called for a foul while trapping Durriya Sampson a half-second later.

Sampson, who had missed four free throws in overtime, including two just 17 seconds before, made both free throws to give the Lady Hornets a 60-59 lead. That became the final score when Southern’s Cortnei Purnell missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer Saturday in the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

“(Sampson) has been in my program for five years and she’s a graduate,” Alabama State coach Freda Freeman-Jackson said. “There’s no substitute for experience.”

Though the game was decided in the final seconds, Jaguars coach Sandy Pugh looked back on the earlier stages of the game.

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