Lady Hornets upset defending champs
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Contributed BOSSIER CITY, La. — Alabama State University senior Shanice Merritt made sure that Wednesday’s opening game of the 2010 Farmers Insurance SWAC Basketball Tournament wasn’t the last of her career as she posted a double-double in leading the No.7-seed Lady Hornets to a 50-48 upset victory over No. 2-seed Prairie View A&M. Merritt finished with a season-best 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds while also blocking five shots as ASU (12-16) advances to Friday’s semifinal round against the winner of Thursday’s No.3 Alabama A&M versus No. 6 Alcorn State contest. Prairie View finished the season with a 15-13 record. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for Alabama State against Prairie View, with the Lady Hornets last victory in the series coming in the 2005-06 campaign. It also was ASU’s first opening round tournament victory since the 2006 SWAC Tournament. “I was very proud of this team today,” said head coach Freda Freeman Jackson. “We were able to get a good start early and play with determination. That is something we’ve been talking about all season.” With opportunity to dispatch Prairie View and advance one step closer to the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament title, Alabama State didn’t wait long to take control of its quarterfinal game. The Lady Hornets shot 42 percent in the first half while they built a lead as large as six points with 8:38 left to play. Prairie View battled back and actually owned a slight 23-22 lead at the half. The Lady Panthers shot 32.1 percent in the opening stanza. After some back-and-forth play early in the second half, ASU slowly pushed in front and grabbed an eight-point lead following back-to-back buckets from Kimberly Hunter. The defending conference champion Lady Panthers would not go away and rallied to tie the score at 48-48 with 4:18 mark remaining. The defenses then took over as neither team was able to score over the next three minutes of play. Merritt converted a lay-up with 1:18 left that proved to be the game-winning score. Prairie View went for the win in the final seconds, but Dominique Smith missed a three-pointer with five seconds to play allowing the Lady Hornets to secure the win. “We just pulled together as a team, and played defense,” Jackson added. In addition to Merritt’s strong performance, Tandria Milton knocked down 12 points for the Lady Hornets and Tanika Jackson chipped in seven points and six rebounds. Smith and Robin Jones led the Lady Panthers with 13 points each. Ciara Banks added 11 points off the bench. The Lady Hornets return to tournament action Friday at 12 p.m. from the CenturyTel Center. Wednesday results Women - Alabama St. 50, Prairie View A&M 48 Thursday schedule Noon: Women - #3 Alabama A&M vs. #6 Alcorn St. |
