Lady Tigers rally to beat Rice 69-63 at home

HOUSTON- Diamonisha Sophus poured in a game high 22 points as she led a furious second half comeback by the Texas Southern Lady Tigers in a 69-63 win over Rice on Monday afternoon.

Texas Southern outscored Rice 42-26 in the second half after trailing 37-27 at halftime. After shooting 45 percent in the opening half Texas Southern held the Owls' to 37 percent in the second. 

TSU's Alexus Johnson totaled 17 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double. 

Texas Southern was outscored by Rice 28-24 in points in the paint and 17-11 in points off turnovers but the Lady Tigers held a 22-14 edge in second chance points.

Rice led the entire second half until the 5:23 mark when TSU's Brianna Sidney hit one of the Lady Tigers' five three-pointers of the afternoon to take a 58-57 advantage. TSU would never trail again and held off the Owls in the final couple of minutes. 

TSU trailed by as many as 12 points in the opening half before making a memorable comeback. The Lady Tigers shot 40 percent in the first 20 minutes. 

Sophus, Johnson, and Sidney round out the list of Texas Southern double digit point contributors. Morgan Simmons chipped in seven points and seven rebounds.