TSUSports.com: Prairie View A&M edges Texas Southern 61-56

TigerFans

Administrator
Staff member
HOUSTON – The Lady Tigers of Texas Southern University dropped a hard-fought contest to in-state rival Prairie View A&M by a score of 61-56 Saturday.

At TSU's H&PE Arena, Joyce Kennerson led the Tigers with 30 points to push her NCAA-leading scoring average to 26.3 points per game, but the rest of the team shot 33 percent as TSU (6-8) fell to 1-2 in Southwestern Athletic Conference play.

Shala Dobbins scored a game-high 32 points for Prairie View A&M (4-10, 2-1 SWAC). The NCAA leader in free throws attempted and free throws made, Dobbins was 14-of-17 from the line, taking all but one of PVAMU's free throws in the game.

Prairie View led for more than 30 minutes, and stretched its lead to 56-46 with an 8-0 run midway through the fourth quarter. The Lady Tigers fought back with a 6-0 run of their own, which included two baskets from Kaitlyn Palmer. After getting into early foul trouble, Palmer scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Tigers clawed their way back in the waning minutes and gave themselves a chance to tie the game. After Kennerson knocked down a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left to cut PVAMU's lead to 58-56, the Lady Tigers forced Dobbins into a travelling call, one of 10 turnovers she committed Saturday.

Trailing by two points, the ball was put in Kennerson's hands. Her attempt to tie the game with 37 seconds left was off the mark and rebounded by PVAMU's Dominique Newman.

TSU opted to play defense with a five-second difference between the shot clock and game clock, and almost forced a turnover before Dobbins came away with an errant pass and was fouled with 10 seconds remaining. Dobbins made both free throws to all but secure the win.

KEY POINTS:
• The best 3-point-shooting team in the SWAC, the Lady Tigers were held to 2-of-11 shooting from behind the arc.
• While TSU committed fewer turnovers (22) than Prairie View A&M (23), the Lady Panthers had a 32-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
• Breasia McElrath scored 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds; she's averaged 8.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in TSU's three conference games.
• Catherine Okwilagwe pulled in seven rebounds and blocked three shots for the Lady Tigers. Her three blocked shots topped her previous career high going back to her freshman year at Tarleton State.
• Taylor Robinson blocked four shots for the Lady Tigers, besting her previous high of three from her freshman season at Temple in a game against Auburn.

NEXT UP:
The Lady Tigers return to action to next Saturday at Jackson State for the first game of a weekend road trip. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at JSU's Athletics Assembly Center.

Courtesy: TSU Athletics
 
Back
Top