HOUSTON, Texas – The third-seeded Alabama State University women's basketball season came to a close as they fell 68-54 to second-seeded Texas Southern in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) semifinals at the Toyota Center Friday night.

"They just outworked us tonight," Alabama State head coach Freda Freeman-Jackson said. "We had some good runs, but they did a good job of cutting off our penetration and we didn't rotate on defense very well. We struggled to shoot the basketball, and never could really get into a flow offensively."

After Texas Southern jumped out early eight point lead in the first quarter, Alabama State (14-16) fought back in the quarter to pull within three at 19-16. The lead grew back to five, but Alabama State continued to get back into the contest behind the play of freshman Ziara Doe with a pair of three-pointers in the opening half.
 
The Lady Hornets were able to tie the contest at 26-all on a Zomoria Clark put back with 3:54 to play in the half, before Texas Southern went back on top 28-26 on an Artavia Ford layup. Clark again tied the game at 28-all with 2:58 to play in the half, before Texas Southern scored the final three points to take a 31-28 halftime lead.
 
Unfortunately that is as close as the Lady Hornets would get as Texas Southern went on an 11-2 run to open the third quarter.
 
Britney Wright led Alabama State with 15 points, six rebounds and three steals in the loss; while Clark finished with a double-double as she had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Doe finished with nine, while Kayla Stephens finished with seven points and seven rebounds.
 
Alabama State finished the night shooting 29.2 (19-of-65) percent from the floor and just 21.1 (4-of-19) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 75 (12-of-16) percent from the free throw line, while forcing 14 Texas Southern turnovers.
 
Texas Southern (22-9) was led by Joyce Kennerson with 20 points, while Chynna Ewing added 15 and Shamyia Brooks 10 (seven rebounds). The Lady Tigers, who advance to the championship game to face Grambling State, finished the night shooting 47.2 (25-of-53) percent from the floor and 35.7 (5-of-14) percent from beyond the arc. They also shot 40.6 (13-of-32) percent from the free throw line.
 
The loss brings to an end the illustrious careers of Britney Wright – the SWAC Player of the Year, Daniele Ewert, Daniele Clark and Damya Toney. The group helped the Lady Hornets to back-to-back conference championships over the past two seasons.
 
"I have been blessed," Wright said. "I have been blessed by the opportunity that the coaches at Alabama State gave me and believed me. This is not the end; this is the beginning, a new chapter. I am going to miss being around these group, I have been around basketball for a long time."