Shorthanded Lady Braves Fall to SLU, Brown Scores Career-High

LORMAN, Miss. – With just eight student-athletes dressed due to injuries, the Alcorn State University women's basketball program dropped a 77-59 decision to Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday at the Davey L. Whitney Complex.
 
Senior De'Asia Brown poured in a career-high 19 points. She was 7-for-12 from the field and 3-for-3 from three-point range.
 
The Lady Braves (0-3) also garnered a solid outing of 11 points and seven rebounds from sophomore Kirdis Clark. Freshman Diamond Hall reached double-figures with 10 points to go along with seven rebounds and five steals.
 
SLU (2-1) was paced by Morgan Carrier's 20 points and eight rebounds. Celica Sterling finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four steals off the bench.
 
The Lady Lions led 9-2 early when Clark nailed a three-pointer to get the Lady Braves going. A lay-up by Brown had Alcorn down 15-12 with 2:29 to go in the first. Clark drilled a pair of free throws to keep Alcorn behind just 19-15 at the end of the quarter.
 
SLU used a huge second quarter to create separation in the game. It out-scored Alcorn 23-7 as the Lady Braves went cold, shooting just .182 from the field. It gave the Lady Lions a 42-22 edge at the intermission.
 
Down by 24 heading into the fourth, Alcorn outscored SLU 21-15 in the final quarter. Clark scored 10 points individually in the quarter as the Lady Braves trimmed a 31-point deficit at one point down to 18. Alcorn finished the game on a 19-6 run.
 
Alcorn forced 23 turnovers in the game and out-scored the Lady Lions 20-17 in points off turnovers.
 
The Lady Braves will be back on the road Tuesday when they travel to Northwestern State for a 6:30 p.m. tip.
 
NOTES
- SLU avenged an 84-77 defeat to Alcorn from last season. The Lady Lions now lead the all-time series 4-3.
 
- Brown's 19 points topped her previous career-high of 15 points set last year at Jackson State. Her seven made field goals were also a career-best. It was Brown's fifth career double-figure scoring game.
 
- Hall's five steals were the most by a Lady Brave in a single-game this season. She netted her first career double-figure scoring outing in an Alcorn uniform.
 
- The Lady Braves were forced to play small for most of the night as they were without starting post player Jamaysha Bernard and 6-2 freshman Bria Broughton due to injuries. Alcorn was also without starting guard Aysha Kirkland.
 
Quoting Alcorn assistant coach E. Todd Moore
Opening Statement
"We had players out with injuries tonight, but we can't make any excuses. We played well in the first and fourth quarters, but those middle two quarters we just didn't shoot it well. Not only that, our defense wasn't as good as what it should have been. Our communication was also lacking, but those are things that we can get in the gym during the week and correct. I feel our young ladies will respond, but it was a tough night for us. We dug ourselves too big of a hole and couldn't get back out."
 
 On the biggest thing that needs to be corrected
"We didn't come out with a lot of energy tonight, and we didn't get it until late. We harped on that both before and after the game. We can't wait until the last two minutes of a game to show it and hope to come back. We have to be able to play the entire game the way we did those last two minutes. It's going to take a 40-minute effort night-in and night-out. Each of the young ladies on our roster was successful before they came here, and now it's just a matter of putting it all together as a new team. We took 61 shots and only made 19, and then we didn't communicate at all on defense or rebound. We'll look at film, get back in the gym and get better."
 
On Jada Hargrove
"Jada had to play out of her comfort zone tonight because we had to play small and put her at a different spot on the court. We played five guards at one point, and she had to play forward. But she just had a bad shooting night offensively and she'll bounce back."
 
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