HUNTSVILLE - Angel Tate scored 18 points to lead Texas Southern to an 80-65 non-conference women's basketball victory over Sam Houston State Tuesday night at Johnson Coliseum.
Four other Tigers scored in double figures as Gabrielle Rosigi added 13 points, Nadosha Strickland scored 12 and Jasmine Cannon and Trikeyia East each totaled 11.
Whitney Smith led Sam Houston with 13 points while Clarke Davis added 12 and Ray Alexander scored 10.
With the game tied 16-16 with 11:13 to play in the first half, Texas Southern went on a 20-6 run to build a 36-22 margin at intermission. The final 11 minutes of the first half Sam Houston shot 2-of-20 from the field. The Bearkats had their poorest shooting night of the year, hitting on 27.6 percent (21-of-76) for the game.
"We couldn't get into a rhythm," Sam Houston head coach Brenda Nichols said. "We didn't look good tonight. Shooting 27 percent is not going to win you any ball games."
Texas Southern outscored Sam Houston 44-43 in the second period as the Tigers hit 51.8 percent from the field (29-of-56). Texas Southern led by as many as 22 points in the second half. The victory marks only the second time in 10 meetings between the two schools in women's basketball that the Tigers have won.
The Tigers outrebounded the Kats 47-43 whit Inisha Daughtry pulling down 13 boards and East grabbing 11 rebounds.
Texas Southern, who picked up their second victory over a Southland Conference team this year (the Tigers defeated Texas State earlier), upped their record to 5-9. Sam Houston dropped to 3-10.
"We let them manhandle us," Nichols said. "Now we have to move on. Hopefully, we will learn from this and come back and work on our offense and defense."
The contest was the final non-conference game of the 2010 season for the Bearkats. Sam Houston returns to league action Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. when they play host to Southeastern Louisiana at Johnson Coliseum.
Tickets for all home women's basketball games are on sale on line at www.gobearkats.com . Fans also may contact the Sam Houston athletic ticket office in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Staidum. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
