CONWAY, Ark. – Senior center
Henrietta Wells dropped 16 points to lead the Alcorn State University women's basketball program for the second consecutive contest during a 59-45 loss to the University of Central Arkansas Tuesday at the Farris Center.
Wells' impressive outing came on an 8-for-14 effort from the floor. She also added five rebounds, five blocks and three steals. Junior
Tia Sanders tallied double digits with 13, and fellow junior
Miracle Rushing secured nine rebounds, fronting the Lady Braves (0-6) rebounding efforts for the second straight game.
Junior Alexis Freeman tallied a career-best seven assists and just two turnovers while also contributing eight boards. Freeman's stellar play contributed to a 0.9 team assist-to-turnover ratio, Alcorn's highest mark since Feb. 23, 2015 against Alabama A&M (1.1).
Sanders and Wells combined for nine of the Lady Braves 11 first-quarter points. A back-and-forth opening frame had Alcorn trailing by just two at the end of it.
Following a Freeman jumper that brought the deficit back to two at 19-17 with 7:07 left in the opening half, the Lady Braves went cold for 3 minutes and 36 seconds, which allowed the Sugar Bears (4-1) to score seven straight and eventually lead by seven after two quarters of play.
Alcorn made a strong push in the third, cutting UCA's advantage from 12 to 2 during a nearly two-minute 10-0 run, sparked by two Sanders 3-pointers. The Lady Braves scoring lulled, however, failing to score in the final 4:22 of the third and not until 6:51 in the fourth. The drought lasted 7:31 and saw the Sugar Bears lead grow back to 14.
Alcorn was unable to mount a comeback and neither side scored for the final 2:57 of the game.
The Lady Braves topped UCA in points off turnovers (14-9), second chance points (11-9) and bench points (8-6).
Alcorn returns to action Thursday in a tilt at the University of Alabama on a 6 p.m. [CT] first tip at Coleman Coliseum.
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