Box Score GRAMBLING, La. – A strong third quarter was too much to overcome as Alabama A&M (10-6, 8-5 SWAC) battled Grambling (9-9, 8-7 SWAC) for four quarters before finally falling by a 72-68 score in an NCAA Division I women's basketball game on Saturday, March 6.
Junior forward
Dariauna Lewis (Omaha, Neb.) delivered another impressive performance with 26 points and 12 rebounds, half of those off the offensive glass, while senior guard
Deshawna Harper (Indianapolis, Ind.) had 18 points, six rebounds and three assists. Redshirt-junior center
Elexis Evans (Greensboro, Ala.) finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed five boards and senior guard
Nigeria Jones (Lincoln, Neb.) chipped in with six assists.
It would be a game of runs throughout the first quarter as A&M pulled ahead 7-2 just over two and a half minutes in before the Tigers rallied to tie it a minute and a half later. The back-and-forth would continue with a 5-0 spurt for the Bulldogs that gave them a 12-7 advantage by the 4:35 mark and an 11-3 run by GSU that flipped the script and put them up 18-15. That would be a margin that would be cut to one as the teams headed to the second.
It would be a much stronger quarter for Alabama A&M, however, as they went from trailing 23-21 in the opening minutes to ahead 33-23 behind the force of a 12-0 run that culminated at the 2:24 mark. From there they would take a 34-27 advantage into the break.
The third quarter would be a far different story as Grambling knotted it up twice, the last at 38-38 with 6:55 on the clock, before a Bulldogs bucket gave them back a two-point lead seconds later. From there, however, the Tigers pounded out an 11-2 run that put them ahead 49-42 with just over two and a half minutes left in the period, a margin that would be cut to 51-48 by the end of the frame.
A&M would score the first five points of the fourth to retake the lead at 53-51 but would find themselves deadlocked at 56-56 with 6:15 showing. The Tigers then notched three straight buckets for a six point lead midway through the quarter only to see the Bulldogs storm back to cut it to one, 62-61, by the 3:38 mark.
A 7-0 run, capped by a triple from Justice Coleman, then put Grambling in commanding position at 69-61 with 1:35 to play. Alabama A&M would cut it to five on a pair of occasions down the stretch but could get no closer than the final margin of 72-68 as the Tigers closed out the four point victory.
Coleman led four players in double-figure scoring for GSU as she connected on 5-of-9 shots for 16 points while Alexus Holt had 14 points, six caroms, five assists and a pair of steals. Candice Parramore added 12 points and Leah Morrow 10 to go with four points, six rebounds and three blocks from Jasmine Forte.
The Bulldogs will now await the final seeding for the 2021 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Tournament. This year's tournament will be held entirely in Birmingham, Alabama and feature the top eight teams in action from March 10-13.
