BATON ROUGE, La. ^__ The Alabama A&M women's basketball team (14-14, 12-6 SWAC) struggled offensively in the fourth quarter in a 66-53 loss to Southern inside of the F.G. Clark Activity Center on Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season.
 
Both teams came out strong, seeing five lead changes and three ties over the first half of the opening quarter. After the first media timeout with just over four minutes to play, Southern gained a five-point lead at the 3:33 mark, before closing the period up 23-15.
 
The second quarter was a defensive battle, with 23 combined points. A&M scored the first two baskets of the period to pull the game to 23-19, however the Jaguars responded with seven unanswered, gaining their first double-digit lead of the game at 30-19 with 4:50 remaining in the first half.
 
Alabama A&M ended their scoring drought nearly two minutes later on a layup from Amiah Simmons for a 31-21 score before outscoring Southern to close out the quarter, trailing 34-27 at the break.
 
After trailing by double figures again around three minutes into the second half, the Bulldogs responded after a called timeout and begin to claw back into the game. Elijah McCallop hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 43-36 at the 4:47 mark in the period, followed later by points from Toni Grace and Chynell Mitchell to pull within a possession at 43-40.
 
Southern slowed the momentum with a pair of free throws after drawing a foul, however Grace and Simmons scored inside on the next two trips down the floor to make the score 45-44 before a free throw with under 30 seconds left tied the game at 45-45.
 
Trailing just 46-45 heading into the fourth, the Bulldogs struggled on the offensive end over the final 10 minutes, shooting just 2-for-18 in the period and scoring just seven points. By comparison, the Jaguars closed the game shooting 53.8 percent from the floor on their way to the 66-53 contest.
 
Simmons led Alabama A&M with 21 points on the day, followed by McCallup who finished with eight points and four rebounds in the loss.

Follow the Bulldogs
Stay connected with Alabama A&M Women's Basketball on Instagram and Twitter (@aamuwbb). For complete coverage of Alabama A&M athletics, follow on social media at @aamuathletics (Instagram) and @AAMUBulldogs on Twitter, and visit the official home of Alabama A&M University athletics at www.aamusports.com.