HUNTSVILLE – The Alabama A&M women's basketball team earned their third straight win after defeating Prairie View A&M, 66-55, in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) women's action held inside of the Event Center on Monday evening.
 
The Bulldogs (8-9, 6-1 SWAC) got out to an early lead in the contest, as Darian Burgin (Cincinnati, Ohio) opened the game with a three-pointer, while Toni Grace (Fishers, Ind.) followed with a layup not long after for a 5-0 lead.
 
The Panthers got on the board on their next possession, however Alabama A&M continued to control the momentum, extending their lead to 16-2 at the 6:39 mark of the opening quarter.
 
Prairie View scored five unanswered on the next two trips down the floor to cut into the lead to make the score 16-7, before Amani Free (Clay, N.Y.) sank her first three of the game to end the short drought, giving the Bulldogs a 23-12 lead after the first.
 
Alabama A&M saw the lead dwindle in the second, as the Panthers got within single digits with the first score of the frame with just over nine minutes in the half. The two programs went back-and-forth for the remainder of the quarter, as the lead was shredded to just 31-29 at the half.
 
The game was tied on the first possession out of the break, however Free added another long-range jumper in response to put the Bulldogs up 34-31. Minutes later, Prairie View took their first lead of the game at 35-34 before another response from A&M, this time in the form of a 12-5 to gain a 46-40 lead with 3:18 to go in the third.
 
From there, the Bulldogs extended their lead to nine after a pair of free throws from Burgin with just under two minutes to play and maintained the nine-point lead heading into the fourth, leading 54-45.
 
The Bulldogs continued to control the game in the final frame, gaining a 58-47 lead with 7:19 to play and held onto the double figure advantage until a five-point swing from the Panthers pulled the score to 60-54. Soon after, A&M responded with another score from Free to go back up ten minutes later and held Prairie View to one more point in the contest to take the 66-55 win.
 
Three Bulldogs finished the game in double figures on the day, led by Free with 23 points, including going 4-for-7 from behind the arc along with four rebounds. She was followed by Grace, who added 22 points and five rebounds along with Burgin who finished with 13 points and eight boards on the night.
 
Up Next
Alabama A&M will travel to Florida for a two-game stint starting this weekend, starting with a game against Florida A&M on Saturday, January 28. Tip-off has been set for the first game of the doubleheader for 2 p.m. ET inside of the Al Lawson Center.
 
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