BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Amiah Simmons scored a career-high 34 points as the Alabama A&M University women's basketball team rallied from a 23-point second-half deficit, but could not hold on to a slim lead down the stretch in falling to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 82-74, in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Women's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday at Bartow Arena.
Alabama A&M, which ended its season at 15-16, trailed 64-41 with 2:29 remaining in the third quarter. Yet, the Bulldogs rallied all the way back, using a furious 16-2 run in the fourth and grabbed a 74-71 lead before being outscored, 11-3, during the final 1:48. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (17-15), which went 10-of-12 from behind the 3-point line in the first half, advanced to Friday's SWAC Women's Basketball Tournament semifinals and will meet top seed Jackson State at 5:30 p.m.
"I am so proud of our young ladies for competing and fighting," Alabama A&M head coach Margaret Richards said. "We were down by 23 and they could have very easily packed it in and gave up. But they competed and fought extremely hard like I knew they would. We came up short tonight, but I love how hard we fought and played."
Simmons paced Alabama A&M with 34 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, along with nine rebounds, three steals and two assists. Chynell Mitchell added 10 points, two boards, two assists, one block and one steal, while Alisha Wilson chipped in 10 points, six boards and one steal.
Zaay Green scored 19 of her team-high 32 points in the first half, with eight assists, six rebounds and one steal. Kaila Walker poured in 22 points, on 7-of-9 shooting, with three boards, while Tia Morgan tallied 10 points, five assists and two boards.