No. 6 Grambling State stuns No. 3 Alabama A&M in 68-62 upset win

Birmingham Ala.-The roar of the Grambling State Lady Tigers was louder than bark of the Lady Bulldogs of Alabama A&M.
Sixth-seeded Grambling State (12-18) defeated third-seeded Alabama A&M (17-13) 68-62 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Complex Center on Thursday afternoon during day two of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
The Lady Tigers dropped their two regular season match-ups to the Lady Bulldogs. The first time they were defeated in a 75-81 overtime loss on January 2nd. The second downfall was on March 1st with a 61-68 loss.
This time, Grambling State found a way to come out on top.
“It’s very hard to defeat a team that you’ve played three times because they know how you’re going to play,” said Grambling head coach Rusty Ponton.
“We lost the two previous games because we flat out missed the free throws. But this time our defense was there and we made a lot of our free throws.”
Going into the SWAC tournament the Lady Tigers averaged only 60 percent from the free throw line.
Grambling’s three-time SWAC Defensive Player of the Year Lacy Cormier scored 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. But it was her clutch play down the stretch that had Ponton singing her praises.
“Lacey stepped up and was tremendous on the line,” said Ponton. “From a defensive standpoint she was great and made a lot of defensive rebounds. She is not only a leader for the girls on the court but off the court as well.”
Down 62-59 with 1:44 remaining, Cormier converted a three-point play inside the paint to tie the score. Then after making 1-of-2 from the foul line, Cormier helped preserve Grambling’s 63-62 lead after blocking A&M’s Christian Malone. That block lead to Keva Wilson three-point play that iced the game.
Cormier said that she only had one goal for the game and that was to go out there and play like it was the last time that she was going to play.
“With my being a senior I try to play every game like it’s my last especially this game in particular,” said Cormier. “Tomorrow is never promised for any of us so I tell the girls to go out there like it’s there last game and give it their all, because I always do.”
The other top performers for Grambling was senior guard Sanora Cole and senior forward Dominique Headd adding 13 points each.
“I am very proud of how the girls stepped up and played hard,” said Ponton. “They showed poise and I’m very happy about the win.
Despite the disadvantage in the loss A&M believes that they tried their hardest against Grambling.
“I think that the girls attacked and tried their hardest,” said A&M head coach Altherias Warmley. “But we didn’t get the results that we wanted to get.”
The players with double figures for the Lady bulldogs were junior forward Felicia Drummond with 15 points and senior forward Tamika Green with 10.
Though Grambling had a field goal percentage of 40 during the first half in comparison to A&M’s 31.7 percent they fell seven points short behind the Lady Bulldogs concluding the half with 27-34. With the Lady Bulldogs shooting 7-of-9 from the free throw line and the Lady Tigers shooting 11-of-16.
“We did a pretty good job in the first half,” said Warmley. “But in the second half it shifted the other way. Instead of being patient and running our offense we ended up taking quick shots that just didn’t fall.”
Ponton said that the Lady Tigers have been in the position where the Lady Bulldogs have given them trouble from the start of the game before he’s just glad that it was different this time.
“We’ve been in this position before and in the beginning of the game A&M came out, executed and did a lot of things that gave us difficulty,” said Ponton. “I’m just glad that my girls weathered the storm and made free throws because it made a difference in the game this time.”
Grambling advances to play the Lady Panthers of Prairie View (17-13) in the semifinals of the SWAC Tournament on Friday March 9 at noon.