Southern Climbs Back Into First Place
SWAC.org
Southern (11-9, 10-3) 63, Mississippi Valley State (12-12, 9-4) 59
BATON ROUGE - In a battle for first place, Southern came from behind to beat Mississippi Valley State. It was the Jaguars third straight win and sixth in the last seven games. Meanwhile, after winning five straight and eight of nine games, the Devilettes dropped their second in a row. MVSU led by as much as 14 points in the first half, but the lead dwindled to 28-25 at the break. Southern took the lead early in the second half on a layup by Adrian Sanders with 17:25 left. Her basket made it 30-28. The Devilettes reclaimed the lead and went back up back six at 38-32 with 13:41 remaining. The Lead seesawed back and forth and the score was tied 10 times. The score was tied tied at 59 with 10 seconds left. Jasmine Jefferson hit a pair of freethrows with nine seconds left to put the Jaguars ahead for good. Davina Jefferson missed a 3-pointer with two seconds left that could have won the game for MVSU and Jasmine Jefferson made a freethrow with a second left to cap the win. Jefferson led Southern with 13 points and five rebounds. Laneisha Stephens added 10 points and nine rebounds, while Jamie Floyd grabbed 11 rebounds to go with nine points. Alia Frank finished with 17 points and six rebounds to lead MVSU. De'Kisha Fondon also scored in double figures contributing 13 points.
Jackson State (10-12, 7-6) 55 - Texas Southern (4-19, 2-10) 50
HOUSTON - Tiffany Kellum scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Beatrice Banks tallied 11 points and five rebounds to lead Jackson State to a road win over Texas Southern. The win snapped a two game losing streak for the Lady Tigers. Kellum was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, while Banks was 3-for-7, all from 3-point range. Gianna Fleming led Texas Southern with 18 points. Ginnesica Lawler added nine points and Azalea Hall contributed eight. JSU led throughout the first half and 26-24 at halftime. The Lady Tigers began the second half with a 12-1 run to take a 38-25 lead with 13:24 left in the game. TSU rallied to close the gap to 42-39 with 6:35 remaining, but JSU answered with a 9-1 run to push the lead back to double digits at 51-40 with 3:24 left. Down the stretch, TSU made one last run, pulling to within a possession at 53-50 with 11 seconds left in the game. But, a pair of freethrows by Banks put the game out of reach.
Prairie View (10-13, 7-5) 73, Grambling (11-12, 7-6) 55
PRAIRIE VIEW - Grambling had a three game winning streak haulted at the hands of Prairie View. The loss denied the Lady Tigers a chance to slide into a tie for third place and dropped them back into the middle of the SWAC pack. Latia Williams led the way for PVAM with 21 points and five rebounds. She hit 9-of-13 fieldgoals, including a 3-pointer. Michalea Burton added 17 points and Kiara Etienne tallied 13. Wymeka Randle and Brittany Allen each had 10 points to pace Grambling. Randle also had six rebounds. As a team, PVAM shot .500 (28-for-56) from the field, while Grambling hit 20-of-49 shots (.408).
Alcorn State (10-13, 8-5) 80 - Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-24, 0-13) 63
LORMAN - LORMAN - Alcorn State had two players score over 20 points in a win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Monday night. Kiara Ruffin led the way with 21 points, while Carolinsia Crumbly tallied 20. Tierro Frost contributed 13 points for the Lady Braves who won their second straight after dropping three in a row. The win also moved ASU into third place in the SWAC standings. As with all season long, another loss overshadowed a solid performance by Chigozi Okwumabua who led the Lady Lions with 20 points. Jazmyne Victorian also had a solid night, finishing with a double-double. She racked up 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for UAPB.
Saturday's SWAC Women's Schedule (Feb. 18)
Prairie View at Mississippi Valley State / 2:00
Alcorn State at Alabama State / 3:00
Southern at Alabama A&M / 3:00
Jackson State at Grambling / 3:00
Texas Southern at Arkansas-Pine Bluff / 5:00
Monday's SWAC Women's Schedule (Feb. 20)
Texas Southern at Mississippi Valley State / 5:30
Southern at Alabama State / 5:30
Alcorn State at Alabama A&M / 5:30
Prairie View at Arkansas-Pine Bluff / 5:30