Alcorn Game Notes | Live Radio
GRAMBLING, La. – Following an unexpected off day Saturday, the Alcorn State University women's basketball program will play for its second consecutive conference victory Monday when it faces Grambling State University at 5:30 p.m. at the Fredrick C. Hobdy Assembly Center.
Alcorn (1-12, 1-1 SWAC) was scheduled to play at Jackson State on Saturday, but the game was postponed due to unsafe driving conditions. The game will be made-up on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
The Lady Braves look to continue their dominance on the glass as they out rebounded Prairie View A&M 49-32 during a 62-55 victory Wednesday at the Whitney Complex. Alcorn has the SWAC's best rebounding margin at +11.0 and also ranks first in offensive rebounds per game (18.5).
Senior
Henrietta Wells posted her second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 11 boards. She has a SWAC-most 13.0 rebounds per game during league play. It marked her third 16-point outing this season. Although she did not complete a game in double figures last season, she has stepped up her game offensively to the tune of five double-digit performances.
Junior
Tia Sanders, the team's overall leading scorer at 11.5 points per game, also accumulated 16 points. Fellow junior
Miracle Rushing just missed her first career double-double after totaling 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Lady Braves also got 10 quality minutes out of freshman
Jada Hargrove, who finished the contest with a career-high five points and five boards when starting junior point guard
Alexus Freeman was out with foul trouble.
The Lady Tigers (4-10, 2-1 SWAC) did play Saturday and dropped a close 71-68 game to Southern. Preseason All-SWAC first teamer Shakyla Hill led all scorers with 22 points while Jazmin Boyd and Monisha Neal added 18 and 16 points respectively.
Hill scored on a layup to put Grambling ahead 67-66 with 2:45 left to play before the Lady Jaguars outscored them 5-1 the rest of the way.
In conference play, the Lady Tigers' +9.0 scoring margin tops the SWAC. Grambling ranks right behind Alcorn (56.0), who fronts the SWAC, in scoring defense at 56.3 points allowed per contest. The Lady Tigers are also very efficient from the charity stripe, leading the league with a 72.2 free-throw percentage.
Hill (17.7 ppg) and Boyd (17.0 ppg) rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the conference in scoring.
NOTES
- Junior
Tia Sanders has scored in double figures in nine of 12 games this season. She has a team-high 28 three-pointers this season, shooting .289 from beyond the arc.
- Freshman
Jada Hargrove secured a career-high five points and five boards in 10 minutes Monday. She also has a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.
- A big reason Alcorn fronts the SWAC in rebounding margin is because of
Miracle Rushing and
Henrietta Wells' work on the offensive glass. The two each have 4.0 offensive rebounds per game in league play, which ranks atop the conference.
- The Lady Braves split the two games against the Lady Tigers last season with each team winning on the road.
- One of Alcorn's keys to victory Saturday will be its free-throw shooting. The Lady Braves are shooting just 52.5 percent from the charity stripe in conference play.
- The Lady Braves have lost depth due to injuries to
Dejah Joshua,
Bridgejae Patterson and
Brianna Tolliver, who were all considered key players on this year's squad. Joshua and Patterson each participated in one contest this season while Alcorn has been without Tolliver, a double-digit scorer in two of the first five games, for eight straight games.
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