BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | No. 3 seed Alabama State built a double-digit second half lead and then held on after a rally by No. 6 seed Prairie View A&M, winning 60-58 in the quarterfinals of the Cricket Wireless SWAC Basketball Tournament presented by Mountain Dew at Bartow Arena on Thursday morning.

Alabama State (14-14) fell behind by six early in the first quarter before outscoring Prairie View A&M 23-4 over a span of 12 minutes to take a 29-16 lead and held on to that lead heading into halftime. They continued to keep the lead at double digits before the Panthers rallied back late in the second half and trimmed the lead to three with just seconds remaining. However, a key free throw and defensive stop helped Alabama State advance to the semifinals.

Shmya Ward (Memphis, Tenn.) led Alabama State with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Ayana Emmanuel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) added 12 points and nine rebounds. Farrah Pearson (Hazel Green, Ala.) chipped in with 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench for the Hornets.

Coach Freda Freeman-Jackson Comments
"This was a big win for us because earlier this season they beat us, and the same thing happened today that happened when we played them the first time. We were able to get up on them and they came back, Prairie View has a great team, and we knew it was going to be a hard-fought battle. We did just enough to win today. I had to burn a timeout late in the game and told them specifically to not foul on a three-point shot and that's exactly what we did. We just didn't close out down the stretch; we have to do a better job than that in order to give ourselves a chance to win. We must play with more discipline and know what we have to do to be successful. Shmya (Ward) missed the first part of the season and has come on down the stretch. She does a great job of seeing what she has to work with, and we just have to do a better job of letting her post up, that is where a lot of our turnovers came from."
 
Team Stats

• Alabama State led by as many as 17 in the third quarter with 4:43 remaining before Prairie View A&M went on a 12-0 to cut the quarter lead to just eight (46-38).
• The second half double-digit lead was the second consecutive game in which a Hornet opponent came back to either take the lead or have a chance to win the contest (Grambling State – March 5).
• The Hornets outscored Prairie View A&M 36-18 in the paint with Ward and Pearson combining for 28 of those points.
• Alabama State shot 40.0 (22-of-55) percent from the floor and just 16.7 (2-of-12) percent from beyond the arc, while they held Prairie View A&M to just 25.6 (16-of-62) percent shooting from the floor and 17.4 (4-of-23) percent from beyond the arc.

First Half

• Alabama State got down early to the Panthers at 12-6 with 3:46 to play in the opening quarter, but a jumper by Pearson with 3:42 to play cut the lead to 12-8 and ignited a rally that would give Alabama State the lead and extend it to double digits in the opening half.
• The Hornets tied the game at 12-all with 41 seconds remaining in the quarter before taking the lead with just 22 seconds remaining on a lay-up by Tederia Ashley (Huntsville, Ala.).
• The lead continued to grow for Alabama State as they went on a 15-0, holding Prairie View A&M scoreless for 8:21 in the first half. The Panthers got back on the board with 5:35 remaining in the first half.
• Alabama State went on another run, a 7-0 run over a span of just over three minutes to push the lead back double-digits at 15.

Second Half

• Alabama State built their biggest lead of the game at 17 when Jayla Crawford (Birmingham, Ala.) connected on a shot with 4:43 to play in the quarter, giving Alabama State a 43-26 lead.
• From that point in the game, the Panthers went on a 12-0 run and held Alabama State scoreless for four minutes to get to within single digits at five with 56 seconds remaining (43-38).
• Alabama State quickly pushed the lead back to double digits in the fourth quarter with 6:36 to play (51-40) on a shot from Pearson and kept the lead there until Prairie View A&M trimmed the lead to 55-48.
• The Hornets held a 59-52 lead with just eight seconds remaining in the game before Prairie View A&M knocked down a three-pointer and converted the free throw to trim the lead 59-56 with just three seconds to play.
• After a pair of missed free throws by Alabama State, the Panthers hit a pair with just over one second remaining (1.2) to trim the lead to 59-58. Emmanuel came back and hit one of two with just 0.9 seconds remaining and Prairie View A&M could not get a shot off before the buzzer.

Up Next

• Alabama State advances into the semifinals of the SWAC Championship Tournament where they will face No. 7 seed Grambling State who upset No. 2 seed Alabama A&M on Wednesday.
• The two teams have met twice this season with Grambling State winning both meetings, including a 64-56 win on Saturday (March 5).

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