From Grambling Sports Information:
BATON ROUGE, La. | Three Grambling State University women’s basketball players posted double figures in scoring, but it wasn’t enough as the Lady Tigers fell, 71-65, on Saturday to rival Southern in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game at the F.G. Clark Activity Center.
Grambling State (9-13 overall, 6-4 SWAC), which has now lost two straight, trailed, 23-21 at the end of one period and 35-31 at the break. Southern (12-10, 9-2) took a 46-44 lead into the final period.
Justice Coleman led the way with 14 points, on 7-of-11 shooting, four rebounds, one steal and one assist. Jazmin Boyd tallied 14 points, three steals and two boards, while Shakyla Hill, who was held to less than 15 points for the second time this season, finished with 11 points, eight assists, six rebounds and one steal.
Jaden Towner paced Southern with 17 points, five rebounds and one steal, while Alyric Scott posted a double-double of 14 points, 12 boards, along with three assists and two steals. Skylar O’Bear chipped in 10 points and a pair of steals.
Turning Point
With the score tied at 10 with 5:56 left in the first period, Southern used a 9-4 run over a two-minute spurt to grab a 19-14 advantage after a Brittany Rose jumper with 3:31 left. However, Grambling State responded with five straight points, capped by a Takerra Parsons bucket, tying the game at 19 with 1:16 remaining.
The Jaguars took a 23-21 lead into the second and extended the advantage to 31-24 after an Alyric Soctt jumper with 6:35remaining in the first half. The Lady Tigers battled back and trimmed the deficit to 33-31 after a Justice Coleman jumper with 1:26 left, but two free throws by Danayea Charles sent Southern into the break with a 35-31 lead.
Southern pushed the advantage to 40-31 early in the third period, but Grambling State fought back and closed the gap to 46-44 at the end of the quarter.
A Justice Coleman bucket with 7:19remaining cut the deficit to 51-46, but Southern scored six straight points, capped by a Scott layup to give the Jaguars a 57-46 advantage with 5:33 left.
Grambling State could not recover from the big margin in the final five minutes in dropping its second consecutive game.
Inside the Numbers
> Grambling State was 26-of-63 (41.9 percent) shooting and 8-of-14 (57.1 percent) from the charity stripe
> Southern shot (48.1 percent) (25-of-52) from the field and 67.9 percent (19-of-28) from the free-throw line
> The Lady Tigers registered 31 rebounds, including 21 on the defensive glass
> The Jaguars pulled down 37 rebounds, with 28 coming on the defensive end
> Grambling State finished with 28 points in the paint, 20 bench points, nine second-chance points, eight points off 14 Jaguar turnovers and five fastbreak points
> Southern tallied 30 points in the paint, 26 bench points, 14 second-chance points, 10 fastbreak points and 10 points off 18 Lady Tiger turnovers
News & Notes
> Southern completes the regular season sweep of Grambling State
> Shakyla Hill was named the BOXTOROW National Player of the Week and the College Sports Madness SWAC Player of the Week on Monday
> Shakyla Hill has posted double figures in scoring in 21 of-22 games this season
> Shakyla Hill has scored 15 or more points in 67 times in her collegiate career
> Jazmin Boyd has scored in double figures 68 times in her collegiate career
> Shakyla Hill had one steal and is now 25 away from the school and SWAC all-time record
Up Next
Grambling State concludes its two-game road trip on Monday against Alcorn State. Tip-off against the Lady Braves is set for 5:30 p.m.
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