Box Score (HTML)

MONTICELLO – The University of Arkansas at Monticello women's basketball team closed out the 2014 portion of its schedule with a 73-62 win over Philander Smith at home on Saturday afternoon.

Down by one point at the 16:20 mark of the opening period, the Blossoms (5-5) put together a 14-0 scoring run to take a double-digit lead on a jumper by junior Nelsha Peterson at the 12:59 mark. That was the last lead change of the contest, as UAM maintained its advantage throughout the remainder of regulation.

The Lady Panthers (10-2) cut UAM's lead down to three points at the 7:27 mark of the first half before the Blossoms rallied for another run, this time a 13-3 run over the next five minutes to ultimately take a 16-point lead into the locker room at halftime up 38-22 after junior Tamia Grady nailed a three-pointer from the assist of junior Nikki Mullen with 31 seconds remaining.

The Blossoms maintained their double-digit advantage for nearly the entire second half. Philander Smith put together a 9-3 run with under two minutes remaining to cut the deficit to as low as eight points. Mullen and junior Courtni Gibson combined for six made free throws in the final 40 seconds to bring UAM's final margin back to double-digits.

There were a total of 49 fouls called in the contest with each team getting at least 30 free throw attempts. UAM sunk 31-of-38 foul shots, while PSC hit 25-of-34.

Junior Jordan Goforth led UAM with her second double-double of the season with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Peterson followed with 13 points. Freshman Taylor Collins and Grady chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively, off the bench.

UAM ended the game with the advantage in shooting, hitting 19-of-52 shots for a clip of 37 percent. The Lady Panthers hit 18-of-65 shots for 27 percent.

PSC's Jerrica Scott led all scorers with 24 points. Caryan Jones added 11 points for the Lady Panthers.

The Blossoms return to action after the holiday break on Saturday, January 3 at Arkansas Tech.