PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas | The Grambling State University women's basketball team used a big second quarter, along with 25 points from Colbi Maples, to pick up a 66-60 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opening victory over Prairie View A&M on Monday night at the William Nick's Building.

Maples had a career-night, scoring 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor. She also added seven rebounds, two assists and one steal to her Tally.

Phylicia Allen and Miracle Saxon also posted big outings for the Lady Tigers. Allen added 15 points to go along with four rebounds and a steal, while Saxon nearly notched a double-double with a 12-point, nine rebound performance. 

Trailing 21-14 at the end of the first quarter, Grambling State kicked into high gear, outscoring PVAMU (3-9) 22-5 in the second period. After PVAMU (3-9) scored a layup with 7:31 to go in the first half to go up 23-16, GSU didn't surrender another bucket until the 1:18 mark.

Kaci Chairs sparked the run splashing a 3-pointer at the 6:44 mark. Following a Panther turnover, a Leah Morrow layup put GSU in front 24-23 with 4:35 remaining in the half. The Lady Tigers continued to gash the Panthers with back-to-back buckets from Maples. Her 3-pointer gave GSU a six point cushion with 2:52 to go. Allen capped the 18-0 run with a three-ball of her own, handing the Lady Tigers a 34-23 lead with 1:52 left in the half.

GSU closed the first half outscoring Prairie View A&M 20-3 over the final 6:44. GSU led 36-26 at the break. 

The Lady Tigers didn't surrender the lead the rest of the way, as the Panthers were never able to threaten GSU in the second half. PVAMU couldn't trim Grambling State's advantage any lower than six points. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Grambling State shot 42.1 percent from the field (24-of-57), connecting on 37.5 percent (6-of-16) of its three-point attempts. The Lady Tigers went 12-of-21 (57.1 percent) at the free throw line.
• Prairie View A&M went 19-of-61 from the field (31.1 percent). The Panthers went 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from three-point range and 16-of-23 (69.6 percent) on free throws.
• PVAMU outrebounded GSU 41-35
• Grambling State scored 22 points in the paint, 11 bench points, 21 points off 26 PVAMU turnovers,  nine second-chance points and seven fast break points
• Prairie View A&M registered 26 points in the paint, 17 points from the bench, 11 points off  21 GSU turnovers, 12 second-chance points and nine fast break points
• Diana Rosenthal paced PVAMU with 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals. 

UP NEXT 
Grambling State returns to action on Wednesday from another SWAC matchup at Texas Southern. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. at the HP&E Arena 

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