AUGUSTA, Ga. – The fourth quarter of the Albany State University Women's Basketball contest against Paine College was too much for the Golden Rams in an 76-62 loss in Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Saturday afternoon despite a strong third quarter performance.

THE BASICS
FINAL | Albany State 62, Paine College 76
RECORDS | Albany State 3-13 (1-7), Paine College 6-10 (5-4)
LOCATION | Augusta, Ga. (Heal Complex)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Alexandria James led the Golden Rams in scoring with 26 points on 1-4 shooting from deep.  Yolanda Givens tallied 10 points.

Ciera Norman added nine points. Tyra Thompson picked up eight rebounds to lead the team.

The Golden Rams would shoot the ball 58 times but connected on 19 shots.  Albany State 4-17 in the third quarter for 18 points but rebounded with a 24 point outburst in the fourth going 4-15.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter:

Paine College (PC) started off strong with taking a 6-2 lead in the first three minutes of play. Albany State started to come alive with cutting PC's lead 9-7 with 4:56 left in the first quarter.  

Albany State then added two from the free-throw line to bring the score 11-9. A three pointer by Alexandria James tied the score 17 all with 00:44 second left. A free throw by Kezia Holmes gave the Lions a 18-17 edge to end the first quarter. 

Second Quarter:
Albany State scored to open the quarter, but Kezia Holmes answered with adding two from the free throw line.  The Golden Rams when secured a 23-20 lead on a jumper by Alexandria James with 7:54 left to play. Akirah Robinson answered with a three pointer to give the Lions a 29-25 lead with 5:16 remaining in the half.

Albany State continued to fight as a three pointer by Tyra Thompson gave the Golden Rams a 32-31 advantage, but the Lions picked up a basket and one.

Paine  took a 38-32 lead into the locker room.

Third Quarter:

Albany State dominated the third quarter outscoring the Lions 18-14.  The Golden Rams ended the quarter with adding two from the free throw line by Alexandria James.

Paine led 52-50 after three quarters.

Fourth Quarter:

Camille Cunningham started the scoring with a jumper as Paine edged its lead 55-50. Albany State answered with back-to-back baskets by Breanna Wilson to cut PC's lead 58-54. Kezzia Holmes knocked down a jumper to grow its lead to 60-56, midway through the final stanza.  Kezzia Holmes added two freebies from the line with 3:11 remaining.

Down the stretch, Albany State added its final points of the contest with a free throw by Yolanda Givens with 00:47 second left in the game. 

Paine finished off the contest with a free throw from the stripe for the 76-62 victory.

UP NEXT

Albany State makes the trip to Columbia, S.C. to take on Benedict College on Monday, January 20.  Tip-off is slated for 5:30pm.