Box Score HUNTSVILLE ^__ The Alabama A&M women's basketball team defeated Jackson State 75-71 on Saturday afternoon in their last home regular season game of the year.
 
With the win, the Lady Bulldogs improved to 16-13 overall and 12-6 in the SWAC, which closed out their most successful regular season since winning 17 regular season and 12 conference games during the 2011-12 season.
 
Guard DeShawna Harper led A&M with 23 points and three assists, while Dariauna Lewis finished with 18 points and six rebounds and lone senior Jameica Cobb added 10 points and five rebounds in the win.

Quarter-by-Quarter

• The Lady Tigers jumped out fast, scoring the first three baskets of the game, leading 6-0 and forcing an early timeout by the Lady Bulldogs at the seven-minute mark in the opening quarter. Dariauna Lewis got A&M on the board with just over six to play, ending an eight point run by Jackson State. After another Tiger score, the Lady Bulldogs scored on two straight coast-to-coast drives to make the score 10-6 at the four-minute and took their first lead of the game at 13-12 minutes later; however, the Lady Tigers closed out the quarter strong, outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 8-3 to end the quarter leading 20-15.
• After neither team scored over the first two minutes of the second quarter, DeShawna Harper started the scoring off with a wing three-pointer with just over seven minutes to play, followed by four consecutive points by Lewis as the A&M fought back to tie the game at 20. After falling down 22-20, the Bulldogs made two free throws to tie the ball game once again and later took a 25-22 lead on a corner basket by Davis to force a Jackson State timeout with 5:50 remaining in the half. Minutes later, senior Jameica Cobb extended the lead to five at 32-27, and A&M scored the seven points in the last 1:30, capped off by a three at the top of the key as time expired by Harper to give the Bulldogs the 39-29 lead going into the locker rooms. 
• The Lady Bulldogs continued to control the momentum coming out of the break as they scored the first four points of the half to extend their lead to 43-29 with 8:38 to play in the quarter. Jackson State responded with a three-point play to end the 11-point shortly after, putting the game at 43-32, before A&M pushed their lead to 16 points at 48-32. The Lady Tigers continued to battle, scoring seven unanswered points to pull back within single digits, 48-39, with 5:36 to play. After another basket by Jackson State, DeShawna Harper hit another three to end the scoring drought for the Lady Bulldogs, and pushed them back up 51-41. The Lady Tigers reduced the lead to just three points with 1:19 remaining in the quarter, and got within one on the next possession before another Harper triple put A&M up 55-51 with 30 seconds to play, and the Lady Bulldogs headed into the final quarter up four.
• After trading baskets at the beginning of the quarter, Jackson State fought from 63-57 and scored six unanswered points. After the Tigers fought back to tie the game at 65, Lewis scored on a strong drive to put A&M back up two and Elexis Evans scored in the post to put the score at 69-65 with 2:30 to play. After another Tiger basket, the Bulldogs came up with a huge steal and fast break score to go back up four, only to be responded to once again by Jackson State on the next possession. With just under a minute to play, freshman De'Asia Thomas hit a mid-range jumper to push the score to 73-69, though the Tigers scored again to come within two points with 38 seconds to play and received the ball for their final possession with 23.6 seconds remaining, down 73-71. After a defensive stop on the possession, Nigeria Jones sank two free throws to secure the 75-71 win.

Post-Game Notes

• Alabama A&M starters: Nigeria Jones, Tierra Dark, Jameica Cobb, Dariauna Lewis, Ariana Powe
• The Lady Bulldogs shot 27-for-61 (44.3 percent) from the field as a team for the game, 6-for-13 (46.2 percent) from the three-point line and 15-for-20 from the charity stripe (75 percent).
• Jackson State dominated the battle of the painted area, as they outscored Alabama A&M 46-28 in the lane during the contest.
• The Lady Tigers also won the rebounding battle in the matchup, outrebounding the Lady Bulldogs 44-34. JSU grabbed 14 offensive boards for 23 second chance points, compared to the eight offensive rebounds and 11 second chance points for A&M.
• Bench production was vital in the contest, the Lady Bulldog bench outscored the Lady Tiger bench 41-20 on Saturday.
• Turnovers: A&M also won the turnover battle, forcing Jackson State into 18 turnovers and scored 15 points off the miscues. The Lady Bulldogs turned the ball over 15 times and allowed 16 points off of their mistakes. 

Up Next­
The Lady Bulldogs will host the opening round of the SWAC Tournament on Tuesday, Mar. 10 at 6 p.m. as they host fifth seeded Alcorn State in Elmore Gymnasium. The semifinal and final rounds of the Tournament are being held in Bartow Arena in Birmingham.

For more information on the Lady Bulldog basketball team, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (@aamuwbb) and Instagram (@aamuwbb). For more on all Bulldogs sports teams, follow the official social media accounts of AAMU Athletics on Twitter (@AAMUBulldogs), Facebook (Facebook.com/aamubulldogs) and Instagram (@AAMUathletics).