HUNTSVILLE – Despite trailing by as many as 16 points early on, Alabama A&M women's basketball (7-9, 5-1 SWAC) used a strong second half to come back to win an overtime matchup against Texas Southern, 72-69, inside of the Event Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
Amani Free (Clay, N.Y.) scored five of her 14 points in overtime, tying the entire Texas Southern program in the period to help wrap up the win.
 
Guard Toni Grace (Fishers, Ind.) started off the scoring for the ball game on the first offensive possession for the Bulldogs, who trailed by a point just over a minute into play and 7-4 a at the 7:53 mark after a score inside from the Tigers.
 
Alabama A&M responded with a short run over the next few possessions to tie the game at 9-9 with a three from Taylor Smith (Fosters, Ala.), however Texas Southern regained a lead with eight unanswered points and closed out the quarter leading 22-12.
 
The Bulldogs cut into the double-digit lead on the first possession of the second with a three from Free. They later went on a 6-0 run to pull within four at 25-21 and the teams battled back-and-forth for the remainder of the half, as Texas Southern held a 32-27 lead at the break.
 
The third quarter started as a battle of free throws, as neither team scored from the field until a layup from the Tigers to go up 39-30 at the 6:24 mark. They later extended their lead to a 16-point advantage at 46-30 two minutes later, their largest of the game.

From there A&M began to claw back, going on a 15-4 run over to close the quarter, led by seven points from both Amiah Simmons (Osawatomie, Kan.) and Grace in the period, seeing the Bulldogs trailing just 48-45 entering the fourth.
 
The battle remained tight in the fourth, as A&M cut the lead to just two points at 53-51 with seven minutes to play, however the Tigers continued to respond on the offensive end. The Bulldogs eventually tied the game at 60-60 on another basket from Grace and took their first lead of the game since the first quarter at 62-60 at the 2:05 mark.
 
Both sides buckled down defensively over the final stretch, as Texas Southern took a late lead with under 20 seconds to play, however Simmons found the basket again to beat the buzzer forcing the extra period of play.

Andriana Avent led the Texas Southern with a game-high 23 points, while Micah Gray and Taniya Lawson added 11 and ten points respectively.
 
Grace and Simmons led the way for A&M with 17 points each, while Simmons also added seven boards on the day. Free was the third double figure scorer in the contest with 14 points and nine rebounds, followed by freshman Emajin McCallop (Kansas City, Kan.) who added nine points and four rebounds.
 
The Bulldogs excelled in all major points of emphasis, outscoring the Tigers in bench points (36-29), fast break points (14-11), points in the paint (38-28), points off turnovers (27-20), and second chance points (9-8). Meanwhile, they finished the game shooting 37.3 (25-for-67) percent from the floor, 17.6 (3-for-17) percent from deep, and 82.6 (19-for-23) percent from the free throw line.
 
Up Next
Alabama A&M will remain at home for their next matchup as they host Prairie View A&M on Monday, January 23. Tip-off has been set for 5:30 p.m. inside of the Event Center and will be streamed on HBCUGo.
 
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