Staff and wire report

HOUSTON – The Lady Tigers of Texas Southern overwhelmed Alabama A&M in the fourth quarter Saturday to claim a 60-43 win on a historic night for the program and TSU guard Joyce Kennerson.

Kennerson, a junior from Port Arthur, scored a game-high 31 points, and in doing so, became only the third women’s basketball player in Texas Southern history to eclipse 1,500 points for her career. She began the day ranked third in the NCAA in scoring average at 24.3 points per game, behind Iowa’s Megan Gustafson (24.9) and Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell (24.5).

Kennerson shot 9-of-17 from the floor Saturday, which included making two out of her four three-point attempts; she was also 11-of-15 from the free throw line. She scored 20 points in the first half, and added nine more in the fourth quarter as TSU outscored the Lady Bulldogs 21-4 in the final 10 minutes. Kennerson’s three-pointer 18 seconds into the fourth quarter put her at the 1,500-point mark.

The Lady Tigers’ 21-4 fourth quarter burst open what had been a very close game between two of the top three defensive teams in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The Lady Tigers (16-10, 11-4 SWAC) entered the game allowing the fewest points per game in the conference, while Alabama A&M ranked third in the league.

Natalie Collins and Ashlyn Dotson scored nine points apiece to lead Alabama A&M (10-16, 5-10 SWAC).