MONTGOMERY, Ala. –Prairie View A&M used a strong second half surge to capture a 69-50 women's basketball victory over Alabama State University Monday afternoon at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

Alabama State (7-11, 4-5 SWAC) was outscored 40-27 by Prairie View (11-7, 8-1) over the final half as the league-leading Lady Panthers rebounded from their first loss of the season on Saturday night.

Freshman Erica Henderson came off the bench to lead the Lady Hornets with 15 points. Henderson, who made three of five three-point attempts, was the lone ASU player in double digits. Senior Shanice Merritt chipped in nine points and hauled in a team-best seven rebounds while also blocking five shots.

Latara Darrett posted a double-double to lead PVAM finishing with 23 points and 16 rebounds while teammate Candice Thomas added 17 points.

The game started sluggishly for both teams on offense with neither team collecting a field goal through the first four minutes of play. The Lady Panthers finally snapped the drought when Darrett hit a jumper with 15:27 on the clock giving PVAM a 5-3 advantage.

ASU's shooting struggles continued as the Lady Hornets missed their first seven shot attempts before Merritt dropped in a layup at the 13:34 mark. Merritt, who scored the first five points for Bama State, sparked a six point spurt giving ASU its first lead of the game, 9-7.

In a battle of runs, the Lady Panthers then answered with 9-0 run to regain the lead, 16-9, with under 10 minutes left to play followed by another 6-0 run for the Lady Hornets that trimmed the margin to just one, 16-15, with 7:42 remaining.

Six straight points by Thomas moved Prairie View back in front by seven, but back-to-back treys from ASU's Erica Henderson halted the run. The Lady Panthers closed the opening half on a 7-2 run for a 29-23 halftime lead.

The defensive intensity increased at the start of the second half with the two squads combining to make just 2 of 12 shots over the opening five minutes. During the span, ASU forced five Prairie View miscues.

The Lady Hornets continued to chip away at their deficit closing to within a point on several occasions, but each time the Lady Panthers made a play to turn back the ASU charge.

Midway through the second period, Prairie View began to slowly build a lead. The Lady Panthers used a 10-0 spurt capped by a Darrett trey with 9:37 left to seize their first double-digit advantage. ASU was not able to get closer than eight points down the stretch as Prairie View continued to widen its margin over the closing minutes.

Alabama State opens the second half of its SWAC slate with a three-game road stretch beginning Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against Mississippi Valley State followed by a Monday tilt at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.