LORMAN, Miss. – Senior guard
Brianna Luton scored a career-high 19 points on 5-of-6 threes and fellow senior
Henrietta Wells neared a triple-double as the Alcorn State University women's basketball program fell 71-57 to the University of Central Arkansas Thursday night at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
"I was very proud of the way we played tonight," said head women's basketball coach Courtney Pruitt. "I think we came out ready to play but dug ourselves in a hole and couldn't catch back up. We didn't have an answer for their post play."
Luton missed just one shot all night, converting 6-of-7 field goals. Wells converted her first career double-double on 10 points and 11 rebounds and was three blocks short of a triple-double. Sophomore
Brianna Tolliver also accumulated double digits with 12 points.
"
Henrietta Wells came out and did an excellent job. She led the force. We've really been on
Brianna Luton about shooting the ball and she took our word tonight. Hats off to her because she spends a lot of time in the gym. I'm also glad that we had 'Bri' [Tolliver] come off the bench. It's important that we have bench play. That's emphasized because we got outscored 22-18 from the bench so if we get a little more production there, we will be OK," Pruitt said.
The Lady Braves (0-3) relentless defense and full-court press forced six Sugar Bears (2-1) turnovers in the opening frame. Luton scored eight of Alcorn's 16 points on two free throws and two treys. Luton did not miss a shot in the first quarter.
After the first quarter came to a 10-point tie with 3:34 to play, junior
Miracle Rushing and sophomore
Brianna Tolliver sunk back-to-back jumpers to put the Lady Braves up four. Alcorn was only down 17-16 at the end of the opening frame.
The Lady Braves commenced the second on a 6-0 run aided by three-pointers from Tolliver and freshman
Aysha Kirkland to take a 22-19 advantage. UCA then responded with seven straight to regain a four-point edge. Â
After a Luton layup kept the deficit at four (35-31) with 2:34 left to play in the opening half, Alcorn missed its final four shots, prompting an 8-0 UCA run to conclude the quarter. The Lady Braves did convert 3-of-5 second-quarter shots from beyond the arc.
Alcorn held the Sugar Bears scoreless through the first 4:22 of the third before back-to-back Maggie Proffitt layups put UCA back up 12. Tolliver then made a layup, and the Lady Braves defensive pressure forced a 10-second violation, resulting in a Tolliver three-pointer on the following possession which cut back into the lead at 47-40. The Sugar Bears again made two consecutive layups, this time by Taylor Baudoin. Alcorn then scored the final three points of the quarter on an Alexis Freeman free throw and
Henrietta Wells layup following an offensive rebound to make it a manageable eight-point game 51-43 at the conclusion of three quarters.
The Lady Braves were outscored 15-5 through the first 7:26 of the final frame. Alcorn utilized three treys, two from Luton, during a 9-2 run in the next 2:40. Sugar Bears forward Taylor Strickland dropped 10 points in the final quarter as UCA pulled away.
The Lady Braves take eight days off from play and will return to action at the Southern Miss Thanksgiving Classic next Friday. Alcorn will face the Golden Eagles at Reed Green Coliseum in a tournament-style atmosphere. The game before features UL-Lafayette and Southeast Missouri State. The winners and losers of each game will face off Saturday.
"We want to put the girls in the most adverse environments as early as we can in the season just because I think that prepares us for conference play," said Pruitt.
NOTES
- The Lady Braves outscored UCA 12-8 in the third. Eight points are the fewest allowed by Alcorn in a quarter this season.
- Henrietta Wells swatted at least seven shots for the third time of her career.
- Brianna Tolliver contributed 12 points off the bench before fouling out with 6:59 left to play
- Alcorn held a 14-8 advantage in second-chance points and 16-15 edge in points off of turnovers
- The Lady Braves converted 10 three-point attempts, a feat that no Alcorn squad has achieved dating back to the 2010-11 season.
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