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DEFENDER | MARCH 21 | 2013
sports
PV Lady Panthers continue dominance
P
By MAX EDISON Defender
rairie View A&M coach Toyelle Wilson’s Lady Panthers once again defied the odds and won their third consecutive SWAC basketball tournament and an automatic bid to the NCAA dance by defeating Mississippi Valley in a marathon four overtime thriller 100-87. The Lady Panthers entered the tourney as the fourth seeded team, then proceeded to knock off No. 5 seeded Jackson State (66-60), No. 1 seeded Texas Southern (62-58) and finally No. 3 seeded Mississippi Valley. After playing four overtimes, Wilson had nothing but praise for the tenacity of her team. “The passion, the fight, the relentless never-give-up attitude, that’s been our story all year,” Wilson said. “Our girls were tired and at one point I didn’t even know how many overtimes it was. It goes to show you how bad they wanted it. They willed their way to the win.” Four overtimes is the equivalent of a third half of basketball and to survive a marathon it took a total team effort. The Lady Panthers were paced by tournament MVP Kiara Etienne, who scored 31 points to lead all scorers, hitting 8 of 14 from three-point range. Teammate Larissa Scott shot 10-of-17 overall to finish with 24 points. Latia Williams finished with her third double-double of the tournament and 22nd of her career posting 17 points and 13 rebounds. Williams also received all tournament honors. Jeannette Jackson followed with 13 points and JaQuandria Williams hauled in 12 boards. “It was a total Jeanette Jackson scores team effort. Everyin double digits. body contributed at just the right time throughout the tournament,” Wilson said. The Lady Panthers finished the SWAC’s
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Coach Toyelle Wilson
regular season in fourth place (11-7, 17-14 overall), a major disappointment since they returned their entire starting five from last year’s team and were picked by everyone as the pre-season conference favorite. Boasting the conference’s Player of the Year in Latia Williams, it would have been disappointing if the Lady Panthers had not played well in the tournament, and Wilson’s troops were not in a mood to disappoint the PV faithful. “We began to jell at the end of the season,” Wilson said. “I’d rather us be playing our best ball at the end of the season, heading into the tournament, than peaking too soon and having nothing left at the end when it matters most. The girls understood the sense of urgency. They put themselves in another gear when faced with a win or go-home scenario.” In three years as the head coach of the Lady Panthers, Toyelle is a perfect 9-0 in tournament action. She is the most successful
Latia Williams is conference Player of the Year.
coach in the history of PV women’s basketball. Now that the three-year contract to hold the conference tournament in North Texas has expired, Wilson, for one, will hate to move on to another venue. “We will hate to see the tournament move from Garland [suburban Dallas],” she said. “The girls understand this is home court advantage for us. We were the last team to win on this court last year and we take pride in the fact that in the three years the tournament has been played in this arena, we’ve never lost a game. That knowledge motivated our team throughout the tournament.”
Kiara Etienne is named SWAC tournament MVP.
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