Last weekend, head coach Nadine Domond and the Grambling State University Lady Tigers started strong against the Lady Panthers of Prairie View Agricultural and Mechanical University in the William J. Nicks Arena, gaining an 11 point lead in the first quarter with 5:18 remaining.
The Lady Tigers were given another chance to score even more as a flagrant foul by Lady Panther Lamaria Cole placed Shakyla Hill at the line to shoot two.
GSU’s intensity faded as PVAMU closed the gap in the second quarter, but GSU pulled out a victory in the second half, winning 51-44.
At halftime the score was 29-28. Hill had 11 points and Larissa Scott of Prairie View had 10.
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A different attitude emerged as the Lady Tigers entered the floor for the second half of the game.
Buckets from Hill, John’ea Thompson and Monisha Neal put GSU up, with a 15- point lead over their opponents.
The Lady Panthers used numerous attempts to stop the ball, including personal fouls on the Lady Tigers.
Hill finished the game with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Scott of Prairie View put up 16 points and pulled down five rebounds.
On Monday, (February 15) Hill and Neal each put up 13 points and together accounted for 15 rebounds as active hand skills, consistency and teamwork gave the Lady Tigers a 49-46 win against Texas Southern University, the No. 1 ranked school in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
The game began with buckets from Hill and teammate Bre’Nae Andrews, who worked with Neal to create an impressive lead over their opponents in the first two quarters of the game.
Implementing the fundamentals that head basketball coach Nadine Domond has stressed to her players since the season started, the GSU Lady Tigers took the lead over the TSU Lady Tigers early and held onto it the entire game at TSU’s HPE Arena.
At halftime, Hill had put up nine points and six boards. Kianna Vines of Texas Southern had seven points.
During the second half of the matchup, the Lady Tigers of Grambling brought more energy and took advantage of some careless play, missed shots and turnovers by the Lady Tigers of Texas Southern in the third quarter.
Hill, leading the SWAC in steals, shared the hustle as her skills rubbed off on teammates Neal, Andrews, Thompson and Alexis Adams. Each strategically took the ball away from their opponents.
In the fourth quarter, Texas Southern came close to making a comeback, down by two points.
It wasn’t enough as the GSU Lady Tigers finished as strong as they began with more shots from Thompson, Neal and Hill.
Along with her 13 points, Hill had 10 rebounds, two assists and one steal. Neal finished with five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Texas Southern’s Vines put up 19 points and had 13 rebounds.
The Lady Tigers (12-12 overall, 9-4 SWAC) will play Jackson State University on Saturday (February 20) at 3 p.m. in the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center at GSU.