Panthers win battle against Memphis State Tigers on the road

Before her team's 70-58 win over Memphis, Prairie View A&M coach Toyelle Wilson said the Lady Panthers would need a team effort in order to stay competitive. She got that and more as Prairie View A&M won convincingly and simply dominated the Tigers for a majority of the game on Sunday in the Elma Roane Field House.
 The Lady Panthers shocked Memphis to its foundation with a near-flawless first half of basketball. Each player executed her role in Wilson's game plan and the bench played a huge component in jumping out to a 42-18 halftime lead on the Tigers.
 Wilson said, "It was a huge confidence builder. I think the girls understood at halftime that we could compete at their level. They believed and they all knew that we weren't only as good as them but we were better than them. I told them any night can be a perfect storm. And it was a perfect night for the Panthers to come and dominate the Tigers."
The Tigers went on a 12-5 run in the latter part of the second half and capped it off with a Ann Jones layup with 7:35 left, forcing Wilson to call a timeout. The Panthers came out of the timeout and found guard Gabrielle Scott in the corner for a three to silence the crowd with 7:23 left and give Prairie View A&M a 60-43 lead. Scott finished with a career-high 13 points and added two assists, accounting for one of three players to finish in double figures for Prairie View A&M. Memphis eventually got the score as close as 10 points in the final minute as Tigers' star Nicole Dickson (13 points, five rebounds) began to heat up, but Prairie View A&M held on for the win.
Junior guard LaReahn Washington was also huge for the Lady Panthers off the bench. Her defense was disruptive and led to multiple fast breaks for Prairie View A&M. She finished with six points, three assists and three steals.
Wilson said, "Everyone came in, contributed and played their roles. Gabrielle Scott was the leading scorer at the half with 11 points. Chelsea Azore hit a big bucket and had a couple of rebounds, and Latia Williams showed up. The big thing with us is that we haven't been playing a full 40 minutes of basketball. We haven't been finishing games. Today we finished."
Prairie View A&M executed its game plan to perfection in the first four minutes of the first half and jumped out to an 8-2 lead on Memphis. Larissa Scott set the pace defensively with two blocks and point guard Jeanette Jackson was not fazed by the pressure of the Tigers' full court defense. She made an assist and threw a pass to Larissa Scott (12 points, nine rebounds, three blocks) that sent the 6-foot center to the line with 16:01 left to put the Lady Panthers up 8-2.
The Panthers managed to maintain that intensity as Memphis scrambled to adjust. Back-to-back jumpers by Gabrielle Scott forced Memphis to take a timeout. She drained a three with 9:39 left to give Prairie View a 20-10 lead, forcing the Tigers out of their zone. Jackson (nine points, four assists) then beat the Tigers at their own game by finding Williams on a fast break layup with 8:23 left to take a 22-10 lead. With a smile on her face, Gabrielle Scott drained her third trey of the game and gave the Panthers 32-14 lead with 5:10 left in the game. She had 11 points at the half on 50 percent shooting from the perimeter.
In the meantime, Prairie View A&M held Memphis scoreless for seven minutes until Pa'Sonna Hope made a layup with 2:31 left to cut Prairie View A&M's deficit to 32-16. The Panthers, however went on a 10-2 run to close out the half and capped it off in fascinating fashion on a Jackson buzzer-beating three to go into the half with a 24-point lead over their Conference USA opponent.
Latia Williams also turned in a monster half with eight points, five rebounds and five assists. She finished with a game-high 17 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
The Lady Panthers will have a full week of rest as they won't return to action until Dec. 4 as they'll face Northwestern State in Natchitoches, La.