Box Score
BIRMINGHAM,ALA.- Despite beingplagued with several starters in foul trouble, No. 5 seed Grambling State defeatedNo. 4 Alabama A&M 81-73 in the quarterfinals of the SWAC BasketballTournament.
“We haveproblems with our post players with fouls, but it was a game of free throws,” GramblingState head coach David Ponton said. ”I tip my hat off to those ladies, we win championships with layups andfree throws. Today, we were fortunatelyto make our free throws.”
Afterplaying a crisp first half, the game quickly turned into a hack-fest. Bothteams shot a combined 80 free throws in the game. Grambling State (14-14) connected on 21-of-27 from the freethrow line in the second half. The Lady Tigers finished shooting 76 percentfrom the foul line.
Gramblingguard Juleen Smith had 14 points in the first half and finished with a gamehigh 25 points. She was 8-for-12 from the free throw, shooting 5-for-6 in thesecond half.
“We wereprepared for this game and we played our own game.” said Smith.
AlabamaA&M’s senior forward LaShowann Smith led the Lady Bulldogs with 19 pointsin her final game.
“It’sreally indescribable,” said Smith, “It’s really disappointing.”
Grambling wentinto the halftime with a 36-29 lead.
Grambling Statewill advance to the semifinals to face the winner of Wednesday night’squarterfinals between No. 1 seed Alcorn State and No. 8 seed Texas Southern.Tip-off is schedule for 12:30 p.m. Friday in the BJCC Arena.
