LORMAN, Miss. – Three Lady Braves scored in double figures as the Alcorn State University women's basketball program led from start to finish in a 73-41 victory over Alabama State Monday night at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
Senior guards Tia Sanders and Alexus Freeman paced the squad with 23 and 20 points, respectively. Sanders shot 9-15 from the field, including 3-6 from deep, and 2-4 at the free-throw line. The Pensacola, Fla. native pulled down five rebounds with an assist and a steal. Freeman went 6-14 on the night, 2-3 from long-range, and a perfect 6-6 at the stripe. She grabbed three boards with six steals and missed out on the double-double with nine assists.
Senior forward Miracle Rushing was the other Lady Brave in double figures with 12 points, six rebounds, and four steals.
Alcorn 25-53 (47.2 percent) from the floor, 5-13 (38.5 percent) from distance, and 18-29 (62.1 percent) at the charity stripe.
Sanders opened the scoring with a jumper and added a free-throw to give the home team the early 3-0 lead. After the Lady Hornets (4-14, 2-5 SWAC) scored their first bucket at the 7:56 mark, Alcorn took off with an 8-0 run. The visitors then closed the gap with a 10-4 effort to head into the second quarter.
The Lady Braves (9-10, 5-3 SWAC) doubled up on ASU in the second 10 minutes of play, 16-8. With Alabama State down 22-19 with 5:15 to play in the opening half, Freeman kicked off a 9-0 run as she knocked down a three-pointer. ASU's Amber Hunt then wrapped up the first half action with a 1-for-2 effort at the line as Alcorn led 31-20 at the break.
ASU could do nothing to stop the bleeding in the second half as Alcorn posted 21 points in both the third and fourth quarters to cement the victory. A 16-point spurt by the Lady Braves helped create a comfortable lead as the purple and gold led by as many as 39 with 6:01 remaining in the game. Alcorn held the Lady Hornets to 30 percent shooting in the third quarter.
The Lady Braves scored more points off turnovers (38-12), committed fewer fouls (21-24), caused more turnovers (34-16), and grabbed more steals (17-5). Both teams scored 24 in the paint, six fast-break points, and attempted 53 field goals.
Alcorn will head south on Highway 61 Saturday for a 3 p.m. affair with the Lady Jaguars at Southern's F.G. Clark Activity Center.
Notes
- ASU's 34 turnovers mark a season high by an opponent. The previous mark was 28 by Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Jan. 15.
- With the win, Alcorn has won four in a row, its longest winning streak in two years. The 2015-16 team won four straight with wins at Grambling State, at home versus Mississippi Valley State, at home against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and on the road at Alabama A&M.
- The Lady Hornets shot 8-17 (47.1 percent) at the line, marking a season low by an opponent.
- Alcorn is now 5-2 on its home court, 5-0 when leading at halftime, and 5-1 when scoring 70-79 points.
- Freeman has reached double-digit points for the fifth consecutive game. In conference action, she's reached the mark in 8-of-9 games. Sanders reached double-digits for the sixth time in the last seven outings and has reached the mark in all but two league contests.
- Sophomore forward Johanna Lafayette saw 10 minutes of action, marking a season-high for the Troy, Mich. transplant. She sank both of her shot attempts and made 1-of-3 freebies to finish with a season-high five points. Lafayette also grabbed her first steal as a Lady Brave.
- The Lady Braves scored 16 unanswered points in the second half, marking a season high.
Quoting Head Coach Courtney G. Pruitt
Overall thoughts on the game
"I was very pleased with the defensive effort. We were able to turn our defense into offense, we were able to score 38 points off of our press, and forced 34 turnovers, so I'm very pleased with tonight's effort."
On knocking down shots
"That's what we talked about in pre-game because we didn't do that well on Saturday. But we were going to find our shot and we did. We shot 47 percent from the floor, which if we're going to be successful, we need to be shooting at least at 45 percent every night."
On Rushing's effort
"She did an excellent job on Saturday, stepping up and giving us 21 points. She just continues to score double figures. Also, our bench play was very crucial. But Miracle stepped up and did a great job. She drove to the cup, was able to get some and-ones, and was able to connect on her free-throws."
On the third quarter
"It was excellent. We were executing well. I was kind of alarmed when we first came out in the first five minutes, but called a timeout and we were able to get it together. We were able to get a lot of good points in transition off of our press and it just kept going from there. Tia had the hot hand, she shot the ball really well tonight. I can't express how proud I am that we stuck to the game plan defensively and it paid off in the end."
#FearTheBrave
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