Ouch!Lady Jaguars stung by Hornets in overtime

On Saturday night, January 23, 2016 at the F.G Clark Activity Center, the Lady Jaguars lost their four game winning streak against the hardened Southwestern Athletic Conference after falling in overtime 59-60 against Alabama State.
The ladies were down at the end of the first quarter with the score 8-19. It only took the end of the first quarter to spark the Lady Jaguars, and they took off to open the second quarter. During the second quarter the women’s basketball team picked up the intensity and was able to bring the game to within three points going into the half.
When the ladies returned from the locker room after the half, they found themselves playing from behind with an 8-point deficit, at one point in the third quarter. The lady Jags rallied together to only see themselves down by three going into the fourth quarter. Going into the fourth Southern just simply took over. They quickly came out and gained the lead, to go up by one with the score 48-47. The game was close for the entire fourth quarter.
It came down to a huge jump shot by junior guard, Cortnei Purnell, who finished with a total of nine points and added her imprint on defense with two steals, that gave the lady jags the lead by two, with the score 51-49. The Lady Jags were playing with a certain magnitude to hold on to the lead and seal the game.
It wasn’t until Alabama State was able to come and score to tie the game at 51-51. With the score being tied the lady jags picked up the intensity even more, however holding onto the ball, the teams headed straight into overtime.
The overtime period was action packed to follow the rest of the game, but Southern was down for majority of the period. It wasn’t until the game was brought to a new level when senior guard, Britney Washington who hit an incredibly huge shot to give Southern the lead by one with only 12 seconds left in the game. When the shot failed, the fans stood up and expressed the joy for the women’s basketball team.
In the middle of all the excitement there was apparently a foul called on Tashi-ana Thompson that sent Durriya Sampson to the free throw line. Sampson converted on both free-throws to give Alabama State the lead by one with only 0.7 seconds left in the game. The Lady Jaguars suffered a tough lost to the inner-conference rivals with a score of 59-60.
Head Coach Sandy Pugh said, “The team lost the free throw battle, and for the next practice the “point of emphasis is position defense, and boxing out.”
Washington, who scored 14 points with a single assist, and the sophomore guard Briana green, who scored 16 points, led the game.