BOSSIER CITY, La. - Box Score / Photos
Alabama A&M’s dream of reaching its first SWAC Tournament championship game died Friday at the hands of a familiar foe. Alabama State closed Friday’s semifinal game on an 11-4 run over the final 3:50 to end the Bulldogs’ season, 61-53. The loss leave the Bulldogs at 16-13 on the season, but wondering if an opportunity was missed. A&M entered the game a SWAC semifinal as a higher seed for the first time and had swept the Hornets during the regular season.
Alabama State controlled the physical nature of the game, especially over the last 15 minutes of the game. Conference player of the year, Katrich Williams’ only three-point basket of the game at the 16:38 mark gave A&M a five-point lead at 32-27. Williams finished with a game-high 24 points, but struggled to free herself from ASU’s defensive pressure.
“There were a lot of bumps and pushes out there,” A&M head coach Altherias Warmley said of the game’s tempo. “We needed to be more responsive to their physical play, and we failed to do that today.”
The Bulldogs’ response to the physical play came to a head with 1:41 to play in the first half when Chelsea Marshall and ASU’s Erica Henderson entangled on an off-ball screen. Henderson was tagged with a personal foul, but officials determined that Marshall threw a punch in the altercation and was ejected.
“Clearly my player made an inappropriate reaction to that situation,” Warmley said.
Still, the Bulldogs looked as though they were in control early in the second half. After a 23-23 tie at intermission, A&M twice pulled to a five-point lead, and held its last lead at 5:56 on a Williams layup. The next six points, however, came from the Hornets’ Tanika Jackson at the free throw line, and ASU never trailed again. Jackson and Shanice Merritt led the Hornets with 15 points apiece despite Jackson hitting just 2-10 from the field. She was 11-12 from the charity stripe.
The difference in the game was on the boards. ASU carried a 35-23 edge, including 15 offensive rebounds that led to 12 second chance points. The Hornet bench also outscored A&M 17-9.
Dominisha Johnson, who along with Williams played in her last game for A&M, finished with nine points as did Nesfayia Watkins. Johnson also had four steals. Watkins had a team-high five rebounds.
Alabama State advances to Saturday’s SWAC final at 5:00 p.m. to take on No. 1 seed Southern, which defeated Texas Southern, 67-55.
