BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Sophomore guard Christina Malone scored 16 points to lead Alabama A&M to a 64-59 overtime victory against Mississippi Valley State.
In Malone’s double-double performance she grabbed ten rebounds and three steals to take the No. 6 seed Alabama A&M (13-15) to the semi-final round of Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament in the women’s quarterfinals at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) Arena Wednesday afternoon.
Sophomores, guard Rebecca Barnes added 12 points while forward Felicia Drummond scored ten points. Freshman center Chaymieyon Moss finished with four blocks.
Two Delta Devilettes scored in double digits, sophomore forward Portia Wilson put up a game high 17 points and grabbed ten rebounds. Junior guard Christen West finished with 16 points and guard Ashley Robinson scored seven points and seized nine rebounds.
The Lady Bulldogs played in close range with the Devilettes the No. 3 seed, the score was tied 16 times and the lead changed 13 times.
It wasn’t until after halftime when the Lady Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run for their biggest lead at 11 points giving them a 38-27 lead over the Devilettes (17-11) with 16:40 left to play.
“We came out early in the second half attacking and scoring, defense played well,” the Lady Bulldogs coach Altherias Warmly said. “Midway through the second half we made a few turnovers and let them comeback in and in the end we went in over time.”
The drive was cut short as Mississippi Valley rallied back, with good 3-point shooting, jumpers and scoring at the free throw line. By 11:07 the Devilettes tied the score for the 11th time at 38-38. From there the largest margin was five points but for the most part the lead was never more than two points.
“We were trying to play too cautious and once you start doing that you give you opponent a chance to start pick up the tempo,” Warmly said.
In overtime, free throw shooting put the Lady Bulldogs on top. The Bulldogs made 6-of-8 free throws in overtime, including Ashley Rankins’ last four shots that put the game out of the Devilettes reach with three seconds remaining. Rankins finished with eight points.
Alabama A&M leads the SWAC in free throw shooting at 68.5 percent. For the game the Lady Bulldogs made 75 percent of their free throws.
The Devilettes shot a poor 21.2 percent. But out rebounded the Lady Bulldogs offensively 25-to-12 and suffered fewer turnovers than them also, Mississippi Valley held 14 turnovers while Alabama A&M suffered 26 turnovers.
Mississippi Valley coach Nate Kilbert said the Lady Bulldogs defense contributed to tough shooting for his team.
“We just had a bad time shooting the basketball, I think we’re very blessed to even have went into overtime, to be as close as we were in the first half, to be down only two points,” Kilbert said. “I thought our kids played hard. It was just one of those nights. I think A&M did a good job of defending us down low, their kids blocked the shots.”
Warmly and the Lady Bulldogs advance to face No. 2 seed Southern on Friday at 10 a.m. in the semifinals. Southern, who clinched a share of the SWAC regular season title with Jackson State, edge arch nemesis Grambling State 84-76.
