Not your daddy’s Prairie View

Birmingham Ala.-The Prairie View Lady Panthers silenced the roar of the Lady Tigers of Grambling State and made some noise of their own.
Second-seeded Prairie View (18-13) trampled sixth-seeded Grambling (12-19) 77-55 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Complex Center on Friday afternoon during day three of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament.
When the Lady Panthers previously met up with the Lady Tigers on Feb. 10 they played at Grambling’s home court shooting 37.5 percent from the field and took home the 80-64 win.
And they did it again this time and though both teams battled each other in a house that isn’t their own, Prairie View made it theirs for the time being and gained advantage of the win.
The Lady Panthers shot 44.4 percent from the field and concluded with a percentage of 61.4 at 3-point range against the Lady Tigers.
“When a team is shooting 61.4 percent in 3-point shots you know that your team is in trouble,” said Grambling head coach Rusty Ponton.
Trouble is more of an understatement for what the Lady Tigers were in. Ponton said that they dug themselves a hole right from the beginning.
The Lady Tigers shot only 38.7 percent from the field in the first half and decreased that percentage to 28.6 percent by the second half. And their overall 3-point percentage concluded at 14.3.
“We dug ourselves a hole from the beginning,” said Ponton. “And we were beat by a really good team.”
The leading scorers for Grambling were seniors, center Lacey Cormier with 13 and Cole added 11. Copper-Dyke believes that the Lady Panthers struggled mentally but defended well and is happy that they were able to leave with a win.
“Although we had some lapses mentally I’m glad that we got the win,” said Copper-Dyke. “We played better defense and got some things done.”
Thomas led the Lady Panthers to victory with a final high score of 22 points.
“With our two leading scorers sitting on the bench I told myself ‘I need to step up and score’,” said Thomas.
And Thomas definitely stepped up to the challenge and scored for Prairie View. She shot 9-of-18 from the field, 2-of-4 in 3-pointers, and 2-of-2 free throws.
“She lead the way in not only in shooting but defense as well,” said Copper-Dyke of Thomas. “She played big and had an overall great game.”
Other top performers for Prairie View were Barefield with 15 points and Smith’s 14.
During the first 4:52 of the first half, the Lady Panthers darted out to a 13-0 lead.
Forward Gaati Werema, the SWAC Freshman of the Year and All-SWAC first teamer, initiated Prairie View’s offensive explosion with a lay-up 0:29 into the game.
At 17:58, Lady Panther junior guard Shavonne Smith, a second team All-SWAC selection made a lay-up and free throw giving them the 5-0 lead. A steal by senior guard Tanesha Barefield from Lady Tiger senior guard Sanora Cole made her available to give freshman guard Candice Thomas an assist to a lay-up. Then consecutive 3-pointers from Smith and Barefield capped off Prairie View’s 13-0 run point.
“This year we’ve been a team of players stepping up and shooting,” said Lady Panthers head coach Cynthia Copper-Dyke. “And I’m glad that the girls shot and got the game going.”
After Prairie’s View’s 13 point lead in the first half, Cole made a jumper for the Lady Tigers giving them 2 points on the board but their points never were enough to add up higher than the Lady Panthers.
The closest that Grambling ever got to catching up to Prairie View was trailing by nine with 6:15 left in the first half. But by the end of halftime the Lady Panthers lead by 17 with a 45-28 score.
The loss was disappointing for Ponton but he acknowledges the athleticism of the Lady Panthers. “My hat goes off to Copper, said Ponton. “Her team’s quickness and athleticism set the tone of the game. They shot continuously and scored off every turnover.”
Under the guidance of second year head Copper-Dyke, the Lady Panthers have transformed from cellar-dweller into a powerful force. In the 26-year history of SWAC women’s basketball, this is Prairie View’s first-ever winning season not to mention its first gain of a regular season SWAC Title, which they share with No. 1 seed Jackson State.
This is also Prairie View’s first SWAC tournament appearance since the 2002-03 season.
Just last year they were last in the conference with .324 in shooting. This year they stand in second place with a field goal percentage of .394 in the SWAC.
Previously, in the 2005-06 season the Lady Panthers hit .252 shots from the 3-point line. But this year they have enhanced their shooting from behind the arch to .303.
Going into the SWAC Tournament finals Copper-Dyke said that she has to trust that the younger players will make good decisions because this will be their first time at the championship game.
“We never know how the freshmen or sophomores are going to play because this is their first time, said Copper-Dyke. “But we are going to trust that they are going to lean on the coaching and want to play the best basketball that they can.”
Copper-Dyke also added, “No one believed that we would make it here, but now that we’re here we are going to have to prove ourselves.”
The Lady Panthers will advance to Saturday’s championship game at 3 p.m. and will face the top seeded Tigers of Jackson State.