HOUSTON, Texas | The hurdle the past two seasons for Grambling State University women's basketball coach Freddie Murray has been Texas Southern and rightfully so with TSU owning a 4-1 mark against the second-year coach.
 
That all changed on Friday night as Grambling State took advantage of Texas Southern playing without Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Player of the Year, Joyce Kennerson, as GSU advanced to the SWAC Championship for the second consecutive year with a 66-59 victory at the Delmar Fieldhouse.
 
Grambling State (18-13), the No. 3 seed, advanced to the title game and will meet rival Southern, the top seed, in the championship game, with the contest being seen live on ESPN3. The Lady Jaguars held off Prairie View A&M, 84-76, in the first semifinal of the day.
 
Grambling State split the season series with Southern this season. The Lady Jaguars ran away with a 63-44 win on Jan. 6, but Grambling State picked up a 79-71 victory nearly a month later.
 
Jazmin Boyd paced the Grambling State offense with 19 points, four rebounds, one assist and two steals. Shakyla registered a double-double of 15 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists and eight steals, while Monisha Neal also contributed a double-double of 11 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and four steals.
 
Taylor Robinson led Texas Southern (19-12) with 17 points, eight rebounds and one block. Kaitlyn Palmer contributed 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Chynna Ewing added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
Turning Point
Grambling State led 22-15 after one quarter, but Texas Southern used a 23-11 run in the second to grab a 36-33 advantage at the break.
 
Grambling State led by as many as eight points, 59-51, after a 3-pointer by Jazmin Boyd with 5:41 remaining. Texas Southern got as close as 64-59 after a jumper by Taylor Robinson with 19 seconds remaining, but that's as close as they would get as Grambling State picked up the 66-59 victory to head to the SWAC Championship to take on Southern.
 
Inside The Numbers
* Grambling State shot 34.7 percent (25-of-72) from the floor and 64.7 percent (11-of-17) from the free-throw line.
* Texas Southern was 23-of-52 (42.2 percent) shooting and 12-of-18 (66.7 percent) from the charity stripe.
* Grambling State finished with 40 rebounds, with 25 coming off the defensive glass.
* Texas Southern registered 41 rebounds, including seven coming off the offensive glass.
 
News and Notes
* Grambling State avenged a loss in last year's SWAC Championship Game
* Texas Southern played Friday's semifinal without SWAC Player of the Year Joyce Kennerson, who was out due to personal reasons.
* Shakyla Hill made her 94th straight start on Friday night.
* Texas Southern swept the regular season series from Grambling State.
* Jazmin Boyd is now 36 points (964) away from 1,000 career points for her collegiate career.
* Shakyla Hill registered eight of the Lady Tigers' 16 steals.
 
Up Next
Grambling State will meet Southern in the SWAC Championship game on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 12:30 p.m. from the Delmar Fieldhouse and the game can be seen live on ESPN3.
 
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