PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – Britney Wright and Tatyana Calhoun dominated the paint Monday night as the Alabama State University women's basketball team bounced back with a 75-61 victory over Prairie View A&M University at the Baby Dome in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play.
 
"We knew come off the loss how important this game was," Alabama State University head coach Freda Freeman-Jackson said. "We knew how imperative it was for us to win, and not lose games back-to-back. We watched a lot of film and didn't go to shoot around today, we wanted to make sure we understood what to do on the offensive end. We came into the night wanting to average 20 points per quarter and we almost got there."
 
Wright and Calhoun combined for 42 points and 15 rebounds for Alabama State (8-11, 7-2 SWAC), as the Lady Hornets doubled up Prairie View A&M in the paint 44-22. Wright finished with another 20-point effort, finishing the night with 26 points and eight rebounds for the Lady Hornets. Meanwhile, Calhoun finished the night with 16 points and seven rebounds.
 
"We put it on the board before the game," Jackson said. "We wanted to play inside-out, which what our game is. What we did shooting all the three pointers against Texas Southern, that's not us shooting 20 threes. We were bigger than they were, and we wanted to get the ball inside. Our girls trust us as coaches and they did what we asked them to do."
 
Alabama State led for all but two minutes of the contest as the dominated the inside. After Prairie View A&M (8-13, 3-6 SWAC) tied the game at 22-all with 6:24 remaining in the opening half, Alabama State went on a 12-3 run to close out the half and take a 34-25 halftime advantage.
 
The Lady Hornets dominated the second half after Prairie View A&M was able to pull within four at 36-34 with 4:46 to play in the third quarter, the Lady Hornets outscored 27-18 over the next 11 minutes to extend their lead to double digits at 63-52. The lead stayed in double figures down the stretch as the Lady Hornets knocked down seven of their last 10 free throws for the final margin.
 
Alabama State finished the night shooting 49.1 (27-of-55) percent from the floor, including 22.2 (2-of-9) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 86.4 (16-of-21) percent from the free throw line, while forcing 20 turnovers and scoring 31 points off those turnovers.
 
"That was huge," Jackson said. "Anytime you play a team that is guard-oriented, you can go all out press. Tonight we showed a different type of press, and they didn't know what we were in. We did it to speed up their offense, and we were able to get stops when we needed them."
 
Alexus Parker led Prairie View A&M with 15 points, while Tori Carter added 14 and Jeronia Allen 10.
 
Alabama State returns to action next Saturday at home, hosting Arkansas-Pine Bluff at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome with tip set for 3:00 pm.
 
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