From Grambling State Sports Information:
ITTA BENA, Miss. | Jazmin Boyd scored 12 of her team-high 18 points in the first half and Shakyla Hill added 10 of her 12 points in the opening half, but it wasn’t enough as the Grambling State University women’s basketball team dropped a critical road Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game to Mississippi Valley State, 79-61, on Monday nightat the Harrison HPER Complex.
Grambling State (13-15 overall, 10-6 SWAC) used a 9-2 run over the final four minutes to take a 21-13 advantage into the second period. Back came Mississippi Valley State (5-23, 4-13) as the Devilettes stormed back and grabbed a 40-39 lead at the break. MVSU stretched the lead to as many as nine points in the third quarter and took a 60-52 lead into the final period.
The loss by the Lady Tigers moved Grambling State into a four-way tie for third in the SWAC standings with Jackson State, Texas Southern and Alabama State. JSU holds the tiebreaker over Grambling State, while the Lady Tigers split the regular-season series with Texas Southern. GSU faces off against Alabama State on Thursday.
Boyd led Grambling State with 18 points, four rebounds, one block and one assist. Hill finished with 16 points, seven assists, six rebounds, five steals and one block.
Kristy Parker led five MVSU players in double figures with 17 points, one assist and one rebound. Desiray Mosley finished with 12 points, eight boards and six assists, while Sydnie Ward added 12 points and three rebounds. LaKendra Bassett posted a triple double of 11 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Turning Point
Grambling State jumped out to a 12-7 lead, but Mississippi Valley State closed the gap to 13-11 after a 3-pointer by LaKendra Bassett with just over four minutes left in the first period. The Lady Tigers used an 8-2 run to end the quarter with a 21-13 lead.
Grambling State pushed the margin to 23-13 after a Jazmin Boyd jumper with 9:40 remaining in the half, but Mississippi Valley State refused to go away quietly and cut the deficit to 25-23 after an Erin Smith trey with 7:12 left.
The Lady Tigers extended the advantage to 31-24, but the Devillettes closed out the first half on a 16-8 run to take a 40-39 lead into the break.
Mississippi Valley State used an 8-2 run to begin the third period and took a 48-41 lead after a Desiray Mosley bucket with 5:58remaining. The Devilettes stretched the lead to 58-49 after a free throw by Jazmin Holmon with 1:36 left.
A 3-pointer by Bassett extended the Mississippi Valley State lead to 66-55 with 7:56 left and Grambling State could not recover from the huge deficit in dropping its final regular season road game.
Inside the Numbers
> Grambling State was 23-of-58 (39.7 percent) shooting and 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) from the charity stripe
> Mississippi Valley State shot 42.2 percent (27-of-64) from the field and 69.6 percent (16-of-23) from the free-throw line
> GSU registered 39 rebounds, including 27 on the defensive glass
> MVSU pulled down 25 rebounds, with 15 coming on the offensive end
> The Lady Tigers finished with 21 points off 19 Devilette turnovers, 20 points in the paint, 15 bench points, 12 second-chance points and two fastbreak points
> The Devilettes tallied 26 points in the paint, 24 points off 26 Lady Tiger turnovers, 22 bench points and 11 second-chance points
News & Notes
> The Lady Tigers have won 10 or more conference games for the past four seasons
> Shakyla Hill has posted double figures in scoring in 27-of-28 games this season
> Shakyla Hill has scored 15 or more points 72 times during her collegiate career
> Jazmin Boyd has scored in double figures 74 times in her collegiate career
> Shakyla Hill is 14 points shy of reaching 2,000 for her collegiate career. She currently sits in fourth place in the GSU record books
> Shakyla Hill is currently 11 assists shy of the school record held by Shiakiea Carter (601)
> Shakyla Hill has 904 rebounds and needs two boards to surpass Mary Currie (905) for second on the all-time GSU record books
> Shakyla Hill has 478 career steals, which is a Grambling State and SWAC record
Up Next
Grambling State concludes the regular season with a pair of home games this week. The Lady Tigers will meet Alabama State on Thursday (5:30 p.m.) and Alabama A&M for Senior Day on Saturday (3 p.m.).
Follow Grambling State Athletics
For complete coverage of Grambling State athletics, please follow the Tigers on social media at @GSU_Tigers (Twitter), /gramblingstateathletics (Facebook), @gramblingathletics01 (Instagram) or visit the official home of Grambling State Athletics at gsutigers.com.
