Game Notes | Live Stats
CONWAY, Ark. – The Alcorn State University women's basketball program will be looking to make it 4-0 to start the season Monday as the team takes on Central Arkansas in a 6 p.m. meeting at the Farris Center.
Alcorn earned a 76-35 wire-to-wire victory over Blue Mountain College on Friday. With the win, the squad is 3-0 to start the season for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Five Lady Braves reached double-figure scoring versus the Lady Toppers, led by senior guard Tia Sanders with 18 points and seven rebounds. Right behind was senior guard Alexus Freeman with 17 points, junior guard Cloe Lane contributed 15, and senior forward Miracle Rushing and junior guard Kristian Dewitt each netted 10.
Sanders leads the team in scoring with 22.3 points per game, followed by Freeman with 19.7. The pair are the hot hands from beyond the arc with eight and seven three-pointers, respectively. Also averaging double-digit scoring are Rushing with 11.0 points and Lane with 10.7 points. Rushing owns 32 boards (10.7 rebounds per game) to lead Alcorn on the glass.
The Lady Braves are averaging 80.3 points per game (+23.6) and have outscored opponents 241-170. The team also owns a +11.7 rebounding margin and is averaging 11.7 steals and 3.0 blocks per contest.
Central Arkansas is 1-1 this season after defeating Hendrix College 79-22 in its home opener Nov. 10 and falling at No. 3 Baylor 86-55 last Tuesday. The Sugar Bears held the Lady Bears to 24.5 points below their scoring average, but were unable to hold on as Baylor pulled away late. UCA led for nearly 4:30 - the most by a Baylor opponent this season - and were outscored by just five (36-31) in the first and third quarters combined.
Junior guard Kamry Orr led the Sugar Bears in the loss with 23 points and a team-high four assists, shooting 7-7 at the line. Senior forward Taylor Baudoin just missed out on a double-double with 13 points and nine boards while hitting a career-high three long balls. Senior center Kierra Jordan finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and a pair of assists in 25 minutes played before she fouled out.
Orr is averaging 17.5 points to lead UCA in scoring. Also averaging double digits are Baudoin with 11.0 points and Jordan with 10.0. Orr and Baudoin are the go-to options beyond the arc with four and three three-pointers, respectively. Baudoin leads the team on the glass with 15 boards (7.5 rebounds per game).
UCA is averaging 67.0 points per game (+13.0) and has outscored opponents 134-108.
The two programs have met each year for the past five seasons, with Alcorn in search of its first win over the Sugar Bears Monday. The game marks the seventh in the all-time series.
NOTES
- Only one Lady Braves squad has started a season 4-0, and that was in Alcorn's inaugural 1978-79 season. That year, the team earned a pair of wins over Blue Mountain before defeating Rust College and William Carey.
- Alcorn was 0-2 against Southland opponents last season, dropping both of its meetings with UCA. The Lady Braves fell to the Sugar Bears 75-51 at home on Nov. 17 and were defeated 59-45 in Conway, Ark. on Nov. 29.
- The Lady Braves are 1-0 against Southland opponents this season with the season-opening victory at Southeastern Louisiana. Alcorn will face Stephen F. Austin in the Southern Miss Classic this Saturday.
- The 41-point margin of victory against the Lady Toppers was Alcorn's largest since a 104-30 win over Arkansas Baptist on Dec. 4, 2004.
- The Lady Braves allowed just three points in the third quarter. Last season, the mark for fewest points surrendered in a quarter was six (occured three times).
- Rushing was two boards shy of her third double-double in as many games.
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