MONTGOMERY, Ala. –The Alabama State University women's basketball team used a balanced offense and a stingy defense in handing Grambling State a 54-43 loss Thursday night at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.

Alabama State (10-16, 7-10 SWAC) snapped a three-game losing skid and avenged an earlier 48-47 loss to Grambling (13-13, 10-7 SWAC) with the victory. The win also keeps the Lady Hornets tied for sixth with Alcorn State in the SWAC standings with one game left before the SWAC Tournament.

Briana Thomas led ASU with 15 points and Tanika Jackson posted her 16th double-double of the season finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Tandria Milton chipped in nine points including a pair of treys.

The Lady Hornets limited Grambling to just 20 percent shooting (9-for-44) on the night and did not allow any double figure scorers for the Lady Tigers, who were led by eight points each from Whitney Brown and Jasher Blocker.

Defense dominated play in the early going as both teams struggled to put points on the board. The Lady Tigers missed their first 10 shots and also had five turnovers through the first eight minutes of play. The Lady Hornets were just slightly better tallying 9 points on 3-of-5 shooting.

GSU scored its first point on a free throw by Wymeka Randle with 14:39 to play in the opening half and didn't get a basket from the floor until Randle converted a rebound putback at the 12:15 mark making the score 7-3.

The Lady Hornets kept the pressure on and extended their lead to 14-3 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the period. Grambling responded with an intensified defensive effort of its own, holding ASU scoreless for nearly four minutes while putting together a six-point run.

Thomas single-handedly halted the Lady Tiger run scoring five straight points for Bama State to push the lead back to double digits at 19-9. ASU then closed the half on a 9-4 surge taking a 28-13 lead into the halftime break.

Grambling finished the first half making just 2-of-17 (11.8 percent) attempts from the floor and committed 12 turnovers while Alabama State blistered the nets at a 50 percent clip (9-for-18) and had just seven turnovers.

The Lady Tigers shooting woes continued in the second half as GSU missed its first five shots of the period and fell behind by 20 points just two minutes into play.

ASU maintained a comfortable lead for much of the final half, but Grambling did mount a final challenge rallying with an 11-2 run that trimmed the Bama State margin to 13, 42-29, with 6:49 left to play. A scrappy full-court press aided in the Lady Tigers surge.

Bama State eventually settled down and made enough free throws over the closing minutes to secure the important SWAC victory.

The Lady Hornets close their regular season schedule Saturday at 3 p.m. against SWAC rival Jackson State. Prior to the game, ASU will recognize its senior class of Shanice Merritt, Jamie Chambers and Briana Thomas.