HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Following a 99-56 loss versus the University of Southern Mississippi, senior
Henrietta Wells and juniors
Miracle Rushing and
Tia Sanders eclipsed previous career highs in a 68-50 defeat to Southeast Missouri State University Saturday at Reed Green Coliseum..
Sanders and Wells each totaled a career-high 16 points while Rushing grabbed 16 boards, the most by any female student-athlete in the Southwestern Athletic Conference this season.
After two points and two fouls in the first half, Wells made a statement in the second by scoring 14 on a 7-of-12 effort from the floor.
The Lady Braves (0-5) notched a season-high 12 steals, contributing to 22 Redhawks (3-4) turnovers. This is the second occurrence this season where Alcorn forced an opponent to commit 20 or more turnovers.
"I'm very proud of the way we continued to fight," said head coach Courtney Pruitt. "We cut the lead down to eight points and stayed competitive. I think if we had a little bit more legs – and our shot – we just hit a lull in the second quarter. We could not buy a basket. We did not score for 5 minutes and 43 seconds. If we could have kept scoring at the end of the second and fourth quarters, it really would have been a tight ballgame."
A Rushing free throw gave Alcorn a 3-2 lead after the first minute against the Redhawks. SEMO then went on to score seven straight to make it 9-3. Sanders tallied five of the team's 13 points in the opening frame that once finished had the Lady Braves in a 22-13 hole.
A low-scoring second quarter saw only 17 total points. The two teams combined to shoot 6-for-31 (.194) Alcorn held a 15-11 rebounding advantage largely due to junior
Alexus Freeman's seven. The Lady Braves were down 32-20 at the half.
Alcorn got the deficit to as low as eight after back-to-back
Henrietta Wells buckets before the Redhawks outscored the Lady Braves 20-9 the rest of the way which ballooned the lead back up to 19.
Following a SEMO layup in the final frame, Alcorn made one last push with a 10-point run that put the game back in striking distance at 54-43. A Rushing free throw brought the Lady Braves back within eight with 3:43 to play before the Redhawks tallied 10 straight to seal the game. Alcorn outscored SEMO 17-16 in the final quarter, lifted by eight from Wells.
The Lady Braves return to action in a rematch against the University of Central Arkansas Tuesday at the Farris Center. First tip is scheduled for 5 p.m. CT. The Sugar Bears (3-1) registered a 71-57 win over Alcorn earlier this season at the Davey L. Whitney Complex despite a career-high 19 points from senior
Brianna Luton.
#FearTheBrave
Listen to "Final SEMO 68 ALCORN 50 Courntney Pruitt Post Game Interview" on Spreaker.
