AAMU Outlasts Southeastern Louisiana

HAMMOND, Louisiana -- Alabama A&M freshman center Ashlyn Dotson scored the go-ahead bucket with 44 seconds left, spoiling a furious fourth quarter Southeastern Louisiana rally and giving the Lady Bulldogs a 76-74 victory in non-conference women's basketball action Thursday afternoon in the University Center.

The Lady Lions (1-10) erased a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit before Dotson spoiled their comeback. The loss in its non-conference finale was the fifth straight for SLU. Alabama A&M (5-5) snapped a two-game losing streak.

After a back-and-forth first half, Southeastern held a 37-35 lead at the break. Alabama A&M took control in the third quarter, taking a 56-50 advantage into the final quarter.

The early minutes of the fourth quarter looked as if the Lady Bulldogs were going to pull away for a convincing victory. AAMU opened the quarter with a 14-5 run, as a bucket by freshman guard Nigeria Jones gave the Lady Bulldogs a commanding 70-55 lead with six minutes left.

Southeastern would not go away, quietly, however. Senior guard Taylin Underwood, junior forward Jyar Francis and sophomore guard Charliee Dugas scored five points each in a 17-2 run. Francis capped the rally with a jumper to tie the score at 72-72 with one minute remaining.

After a timeout, Dotson got free in the paint for an easy basket that gave the Lady Bulldogs the lead for good. Francis missed a jumper on the other end, but then AAMU gave SLU another chance, as freshman guard Tierra Dark missed both free throws with 15 seconds left.

Francis rebounded the miss and took it the length of the floor, but her floater from short range missed the mark. Sophomore guard Jameica Cobb grabbed the rebound and made one of two from the charity stripe to give AAMU a 75-72 lead with 4.9 seconds left.

Underwood was fouled on the ensuing inbounds play and made both free throws to cut the lead to one. Jones answered by making one of two free throws to push the lead back to two with 2.2 seconds left and SLU sophomore guard Tyler Morrison's half-court heave fell just short to allow the Lady Bulldogs to pick up the win.

Underwood led SLU with a game-high 28 points, moving into 10th place on the school's career scoring list with 1,243 points, passing former Lady Lion Sarah Williams. Underwood was joined in double figures by Francis, who finished with 16 points. Francis also had a game-high five of SLU's season-high 15 steals.

Morrison led the Lady Lions with a career-high 11 rebounds and led SLU with five assists. Francis, freshman forward Caitlyn Williams and junior forward Kyla Williams grabbed seven rebounds each for the Lady Lions, while junior guard Ashailee Brailey chipped in with eight points.

Sophomore guard Lauren McKee led Alabama A&M with 17 points and six assists, netting five-of-eight from behind the arc. McKee was joined in double figures by Jones (15 points) and Dotson (13 points). Dotson also led the Lady Bulldogs with eight rebounds.

Southeastern will take a week off for Christmas and open Southland Conference play on Dec. 28 with a 7 p.m. contest at Stephen F. Austin. The game at the Ladyjacks can be heard live in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app.

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SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATION