HUNTSVILLE ? Guard Leasa Ailshie scored 13 and her backcourt partner Ray Alexander added 12 points to lead the Sam Houston State women to a 63-58 non-conference women's basketball game over Texas Southern Saturday afternoon.
The victory ended a six-game losing streak for the Bearkats and upped their season record to 2-8. Texas Southern dropped to 1-7.
Sam Houston had its best shooting performance of the year, hitting 27 of 53 from the field for 53 percent. The strong shooting helped the Kats overcome an Tiger advantage at the free throw line. Texas Southern was 17 of 25 at the charity stripe while Sam Houston hit five of its nine attempts.
“The girls played really hard all the way,” SHSU head coach Brenda Nichols said. “I'm very proud of the girls. They never let go of the intensity.”
The game was tied six times with four lead changes in the first half. With the contest knotted 31-31 at intermission, the Kats started the second period with a 10-2 run ignited by Ailshie's second-half opening three-point basket at the 19:48 mark.
The Tigers roared back to tie the game twice in the second half, 43-43 at 12:19 and 51-51 at the 4:20 mark.
Bre Agnew put the Bearkats ahead to stay with a layup with 3:50 to play. Sam Houston twice extended their lead to six points, but with 1:34 to play, held only a 61-58 advantage.
The Kats turned the ball over twice in the final minute, but Alexander rebounded a missed Tiger jump shot and Texas Southern had a turnover on their final two opportunities. Alexander's lay-up with six seconds remaining put the game out of reach.
Agnew and Brittany Brooks each scored 10 points. The Bearkats out-rebounded the Tigers 33 to 29.
"Bre had a great game and Brittany hit some big shots," Nichols said. "Leasa did such a good job running the point."
The Sam Houston State women now will break for the Christmas holiday. Next action for the Bearkats will be a road trip to Tulsa to face Oral Roberts before returning home against the Akron Zips on December 31 at 2 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.
