Early on it seemed as though the matchup would be a repeat performance of the south state game between Brookhaven and Prairie View just one week ago in which Brookhaven escaped with a one point win. The Lady Spartans took an 8-4 lead on Eliza Crockett’s basket in the paint at the 4:01 mark but Brookhaven reeled off seven straight points, including a 3-pointer from Laura Beth Wright, to take an 11-8 lead with 1:20 left in the first quarter. Prairie View’s Logan Tubbs converted on two baskets in the last 55 seconds to tie the game at 12-12 heading into the second quarter.
(Above) Brookhaven's Laura Beth Wright (#21) comes away with the loose ball
Only a three point difference would separate the teams through the first seven minutes of a second quarter that had five lead changes and two ties. With Prairie View holding on to a slim 23-22 lead Brookhaven fired off seven straight points to take its’ biggest lead at 29-23 with 1:04 remaining in the half. Prairie View got a Logan Tubbs bucket with 44 seconds left to end the half down 29-25.
Caroline Oliphant drained a 3-pointer twenty seconds into the third quarter to pull Prairie View to within one point at 29-28 but Brookhaven took control as Summer Calhoun nailed a 3-pointer at the 5:27 mark to extend the lead to 34-29. Laura Beth Wright cashed in on a Prairie View turnover in the back court with a basket plus one and less than a minute later Wright’s left handed lay-in pushed the Lady Cougar lead to 39-29 with 4:38 left in the third quarter. Brookhaven extended their lead to fifteen points three times in the remaining four minutes of the quarter and took a 50-35 lead into the final period on Anna Lofton’s basket with 5 seconds left. 
(Above) Logan Tubbs of Prairie View (#41) with two of her 19 pts
Brookhaven gained their biggest lead of the night to start the fourth quarter as Terah Winborne capitalized on a Prairie View turnover with a lay-in for a 52-35 advantage. Prairie View chipped away at the deficit and got to within eight points at 57-49 on two Logan Tubbs free throws at the 2:09 mark. After a Brookhaven miss on the front end of a one and one Caroline Oliphant canned a lay-in to make it 57-51 with 50 seconds left in the contest. Brookhaven hit 2/4 free throws and Prairie View’s Kristen Oliphant hit a basket as time expired for a final score of 59-53.
Laura Beth Wright led Brookhaven with a game high 31 points, Anna Mangold added 8, Terah Winborne 6, Summer Calhoun 5, Anna Lofton 4, Mary Lindsey Magee 3 and Marian Allen 2.
Prairie View falls to 24-7 and will play Kirk in the third place game this afternoon. The Lady Spartans were led by Caroline Oliphant with 22 points, Logan Tubbs added 19, Molly Gregory 4 and Jerri Ann Lord, Kristin Kindrix, Eliza Crockett and Kristen Oliphant all had 2 each. 
(Above) Prairie View's Caroline Oliphant (#10) tries to maintain possession against the Brookhaven defense.
Post game comments:
Brookhaven head coach Barry Gray
“I thought we really played hard. I knew we were going to struggle because we hadn’t played in this gym yet and we did struggle. Terah couldn’t find her shot like normally but we fought hard. The difference on the offensive end was Laura Beth’s driving the ball. On the defensive end I thought Anna Lofton, Terah Winborne and our other guards gave Oliphant trouble and wore her down. She’s such a great player and I thought Logan Tubbs had her best game of the year, she was really good today. If we wouldn’t have had such extreme effort on the defensive end we wouldn’t have been able to get over the hump.”
“Fast, we’re going to run with them. We got here by pressing and running and we’re not going to change our style of play. If they’re better in scoring than we are then they’ll win but I think that if we get good shots and we can make some perimeter shots then we’ll have a chance.”
PV...12...13...10..18..53
