LORMAN, Miss. – Junior
Alexus Freeman tallied a career-high 16 points as the Alcorn State University women's basketball program dropped a 57-53 decision to Texas Southern University Monday in its conference opener at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
"I was very impressed with our team's play tonight," said head women's basketball coach Courtney Pruitt. "I think that we came out and did a great job. We just didn't come out on the winning aspect of it. Our players were very disappointed in the loss, but we don't have time to dwell on it because we have Prairie View coming here Wednesday. What we've got to do is learn from our mistakes that we made in the third and fourth quarters and adjust. The biggest thing is making that adjustment so that we can get a win on Wednesday night."
Senior
Henrietta Wells was three blocks away from a triple-double, accumulating 10 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots. Senior guard
Brianna Luton added 10 points on a 4-of-5 effort from the field, including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
After a Joyce Kennerson free throw made it 9-8 in Alcorn's favor with 4:30 left in the opening stanza, The Lady Braves (0-12, 0-1 SWAC) scored five straight in the next 3:15 to widen the gap to 14-8. TSU (7-5, 1-0 SWAC) responded with a 4-0 run which brought the score to 14-12 after the end of the first.
Alcorn outscored the Lady Tigers 12-10 in the second to take a 26-22 advantage at the break.
The Lady Tigers had no answer for Freeman in the opening half as the junior from Navasota, Texas, poured in 12 points on a career-best five made field goals. Also making her presence felt in the first half, Wells swatted five shots and collected five boards.
The Lady Braves held the SWAC's top-ranked team in terms of field-goal percentage to a 24.1 percent (7-29) mark in the first two quarters. Alcorn limited Kennerson, TSU's leading scorer, to just six points on 1-of-7 shooting.
Late in the third quarter, however, following a
Tia Sanders layup that put the Lady Braves up 7 at 41-34, Kennerson drained a three-pointer that sparked a 12-0 Lady Tigers run. Kennerson scored 10 of TSU's 12 points during the scoring barrage which resulted in a 46-41 Lady Tigers advantage with 8:38 to play.
Alcorn responded by scoring six straight in the next minute to regain a one-point lead. The two teams then traded buckets before TSU's 6-0 run during Alcorn's 3:50 scoring drought put the Lady Tigers back ahead 54-49.
Luton then drilled a trifecta followed by a Wells free throw to bring the Lady Braves within one with 47 seconds to play. Kennerson made a layup and iced the game with a free throw with eight seconds to play to seal the game as Alcorn missed its final two shot attempts.
The Lady Braves resume SWAC play at home Wednesday in a 5:30 p.m. bout against Prairie View A&M University.
NOTES
- This is the second time this season that Wells fell three blocks short of a triple-double. She also neared the feat Nov. 17 against UCA when she recorded 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks.
- In terms of assists, this game marked the second-most for Freeman, who dished out six. The only time she recorded more was against UCA on Nov. 29 when she totaled seven.
- Alcorn outscored TSU 15-11 in points off turnovers and 6-4 in fast-break points. The Lady Braves also held a 44-39 rebounding margin.
- Alcorn shot 36.2 percent from the field while limiting the Lady Tigers to 30.5.
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Listen to "Final TSU 57 ALCORN 53 WM Courtney Pruitt Interview" on Spreaker.
