A national television audience on ESPNU watched as the Lady Panthers earned the SWAC automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The tournament bracket will be announced Sunday night on ESPN.
Tournament MVP Latia Williams led PVAM with 24 points and six rebounds. Williams was 7-for-21 from the field and 10-of-11 from the freethrow line. She also had three assists and a pair of steals in the game. Kiara Etienne added 15 points and five rebounds, while Larissa Scott had 10 rebounds to go with seven points and three blocks.
Carolinsia Crumbly paced Alcorn State (14-20) with 16 points and seven rebounds. Sharnika Breedlove added eight points and nine rebounds, while Au-Juvan Andrews, Kiara Ruffin an dAsia Reid all finished with seven points.
After a red-hot start, the Lady Braves appeared to wilt after playing four games in five days. Alcorn State led by as much as 10 points in the first half and 32-25 at halftime. The Lady Braves quickly extended their lead to 11 in the first few minutes of the second half. But, PVAM stormed back with a 28-9 run to take a 53-45 lead with 4:58 left in the game.
The PVAM rally took what was left out of Alcorn State as they wouldn’t seriously threaten the rest of the game. The Lady Panthers slowly pulled away en route to the tournament title.
All-Tournament team
Latia Williams – Prairie View (MVP)
Larissa Scott – Prairie View
Sharnika Breedlove – Alcorn State
Kiara Ruffin – Alcorn State
Wymeka Randle – Grambling State
Alia Frank – Mississippi Valley State
(SWAC)
