HUNTSVILLE, Ala. ^__ Alabama A&M women's basketball took down Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponent Florida A&M, 77-65, on Monday evening inside the Event Center, finishing the regular season undefeated in conference play at home for the first time in the school's history since moving to Division I.
 
Amiah Simmons (Osawatomie, Kan.) led four double figure scorers for the Bulldogs with 20 points, going 6-for-13 from the field and 7-for-9 from the free throw line. She was followed by Amani Free (Clay, N.Y.) who scored 18 points and grabbed three rebounds, Toni Grace (Fishers, Ind.) at 16 points and five boards, along with Darian Burgin (Cincinnati, Ohio) who added ten points, scoring all ten at the free throw line in the win.
 
The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in the first three minutes of play, before a response from the Rattlers to tie the game at 7-7 and later lead 11-10. Free scored inside at the 3:30-mark on the next possession, starting a 10-2 run over the remainder of the period to gain a 20-13 lead heading into the second.
 
Alabama A&M continued to control the game in the next period, gaining their first double-digit lead at 25-15 a minute in after a score plus the foul shot from Simmons. From there, the Rattlers started to claw back and later tied the game at 35-35 with just over two minutes remaining in the half. The two programs went back-and-forth for the rest of the quarter, with the Bulldogs holding 39-37 lead heading into the break.
 
After the game was tied again on the first possession of the second half, Alabama A&M stretched their lead again to ten at 53-43 at the 4:15-mark after a pair of free throws from Burgin. They extended to a 12-point lead with under a minute to go, but the Rattlers scored to close the quarter, making the score 59-49 heading into the fourth.
 
The Bulldogs extended their lead again to start the final period before another run from Florida A&M to reduce the lead to single digits at 63-54 with just under eight minutes to go. Minutes later, Burgin sank four straight free throws to give Alabama A&M a 69-58 advantage, keeping the momentum on the home side for the close of the game as the Rattlers could not come back in the 77-65 contest.
 
Alabama A&M finished the game with shooting splits of 41.7 (25-for-60) percent from the floor, 16.7 (3-for-18) percent from long range, and 80 (24-for-30) percent from the free throw line in the win. The Bulldogs also outscored the Rattlers in bench points (19-13), fast break points (18-7), points in the paint (40-30), points off turnovers (17-11), and second chance points (11-9).
 
Dylan Horton led the way for Florida A&M with a game-high 21 points along with six rebounds and a pair of steals, followed by Paulla Weekes who added 12 points and four boards on the day.
 
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