HOUSTON, Texas – After finding themselves down by double-digits in the opening half, the Alabama State University women's basketball fought back, falling in the final seconds 52-48 to Texas Southern on the road in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) action Saturday night.

With the loss, Alabama State (7-11, 6-2 SWAC) is now tied with Texas Southern (12-7, 6-2 SWAC) atop the conference standings and had their six-game winning streak.

Britney Wright posted another 20-point effort in conference pay, finishing the night with a game-high 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the floor. She also added four steals in the loss, while Damya Toney came off the bench to chip in 10 in the loss.

Alabama State finished the night shooting 30.4 (17-of-56) percent from the floor, including just 20 (4-of-20) percent from beyond the arc. They also finished the night shooting 58.8 (10-of-17) percent from the free throw line, while forcing 24 Texas Southern turnovers.

Trailing most of the contest, Alabama State was able to use a 10-4 run to pull within a point with 43.7 seconds remaining in the contest. Trailing 45-38, Wright connected on 1-of-2 from the line before Texas Southern was able to extend their lead to 47-39 with 4:41 to play in the game. A three-pointer from Toney with 3:16 remaining pulled Alabama State to within five at 47-42.

But the Lady Hornets weren't done there, as Wright hit a three from the corner to trim the lead to 49-45 with 1:51 remaining. Toney hit her second of the night with 43.7 left to trim it to 49-48, and give the Lady Hornets a chance to win with 12 seconds remaining.

However, Alabama State turned the ball over on the final possession and couldn't get a shot off. Texas Southern was able to put the game away at the free throw line.

"That (play in the fourth quarter) is one of things we pride ourselves in," Alabama State head coach Freda Freeman-Jackson said. "We were able to come back in the second half, get multiple stops and execute on the offensive end.

"We were able to get into a much better offensive flow, but we have to do a much better job of running our offense. Texas Southern was able to dictate how the game was going to be played, and that is something we are going to have to work on. We just struggled the entire night."

The Lady Hornets struggled from the floor in the opening half, and could not keep Texas Southern off the free throw line which led to an 11-point deficit heading into the locker room. The two teams traded baskets for the first 11 minutes of the game, until Texas Southern put together a 10-2 run over a five-minute span to build a big lead.

Alabama State played from behind for most of the second quarter as both Britney Wright and Tatyana Calhoun combined for just 19 minutes due to foul trouble, which included much of the second run by the Lady Tigers.

"We just started off real shaky," Jackson said. "We just had some turnovers early, and they were self-induced. And it starts with the play at the point, we started our sets off too far away from the basket and it got the other players out of sync. I thought was one of the biggest things that got us off to a terrible start.

"I thought she did a much better job in the second half as far as getting us in our sets. We were able to get a couple of baskets and some stops, but we dug ourselves a big hole in the second quarter. We only scored five points in the quarter to their 17, but I have to commend the girls on their play in the second half to get us back in it."

Chynna Ewing led Texas Southern with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Joyce Kennerson added 15 for the Lady Tigers.

Alabama State returns to action Monday night on the road against Prairie View A&M University, with tip set for 5:30 pm.

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