FINAL BOX

MONTGOMERY, Ala. –The Alabama State University women's basketball team mounted a spirited second half rally but it came up just short in a hard-fought 44-41 loss to Southern University Monday night at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

With the victory, Southern (17-8, 11-4 SWAC) earns the regular season sweep over Alabama State (9-14, 6-8 SWAC). The closely contested affair featured seven ties and six lead changes.

Tanika Jackson was the lone ASU player in double digits finishing with 11 points and a team-best six rebounds. Yahindra Edwards chipped in nine points for the Lady Hornets.

The Lady Jaguars were led by 14 points from Ashley Augerson followed by 10 points and nine rebounds by Jamie Floyd.

The squads battled through a sloppy first half as both teams struggled to find any kind of offensive flow. The Lady Jags committed 11 first half turnovers and shot just 23 percent from the floor including missing all seven of their three-point attempts. ASU finished the half shooting 32 percent from the field while turning it over 16 times.

Southern grabbed an early 6-2 advantage but then went without a point for nearly six minutes as the Lady Hornets built a 13-10 lead. The Lady Jags answered with the next five points during a seven-minute scoring drought for ASU.

Edwards connected on back-to-back three-pointers to end the ASU slump and push the Lady Hornets back in front 19-15 with 1:43 left in the half. Following a final basket by SU, Bama State slipped into the halftime break with a slim 19-17 lead.

The Lady Jaguars opened the second half on a roll using an 11-3 run over the first four minutes to secure a 28-22 advantage with 15:33 left to play.

Edwards drilled her third trey of the night to pull ASU within one with 14:21 remaining, but a 10-1 surge by Southern over the next six minutes of play gave them their first double-digit lead with just over seven minutes on the clock.

The Lady Hornets refused to quit and slowly chipped away at SU's lead behind a 7-0 run of their own trimming the deficit to just five with three minutes left. Freda Allen ended the ASU rally with a jumper from the free throw line at the 2:40 mark.

With 1:04 left, Bama State closed the gap to three points, 42-39, after back-to-back baskets from Jackson. A steal and two free throws by Jamie Chambers got ASU within a point with 51 seconds remaining. The Lady Hornets forced a shot clock violation on Southern's next possession giving the ball back to ASU with 19 ticks showing on the clock.

Tandria Milton's driving layup attempt with 11 seconds left did not fall and Augerson then converted a pair of free throws to give the Lady Jags a three-point advantage with seven seconds remaining.  The two teams then traded turnovers before Chambers game-tying shot attempt at the buzzer came up just short.

Up next for the Lady Hornets will be their final regular season road trip of the season when they travel to Houston to face Texas Southern (Feb. 27) and Prairie View A&M (Mar. 1).