Lady Braves Drop Pair at FIU Tournament

MIAMI – The two days got better as they went along, but the Alcorn State University women's basketball program fell to the host institution FIU 70-45 Thursday and New Mexico State 82-64 Friday at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.
 
The Lady Braves (1-10) went toe-to-toe with NMSU (7-4) and were tied 32-32 at the half. Though, the Aggies were able to put together a big third quarter and hold off Alcorn in the fourth. Against FIU (3-8), the Lady Braves came out slow and weren't able to make the second half run that they needed.
 
Alcorn out-rebounded NMSU 56-44.
 
Individually, the two days were highlighted by a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds by junior Diamond Hall off the bench against the Aggies. She was one of three double-figure scorers for Alcorn in the game along with 11 points from both juniors Jada Hargrove and Charisma Walker. Junior Toddriana Isler neared a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
Against FIU, Walker tallied team-highs of nine points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Kirdis Clark ended with eight points. Freshman Bria Broughton notched career-highs of four points, six rebounds and 30 minutes.
 
The game against the Aggies was very tight early. Alcorn trailed 11-10 in the first quarter after a pair of free throws by Hall. A lay-up by Hargrove kept them down 13-12 at the 1:35 mark.
 
In the second quarter, Alcorn trailed 29-24 when senior De'Asia Brown drilled a three-pointer and Hall made a lay-up after a steal by Hargrove to knot it 29-29 with 1:57 remaining. The Lady Braves turned it into a 7-0 run after Hargrove's lay-up put them up 31-29 with 1:15 left. After a NMSU three-pointer, Hargrove made a free throw to even it 32-32 at the half.
 
Alcorn was down just 36-35 in the third when the Aggies broke it open with a 12-0 run to lead 48-35 midway through. NMSU led by as many as 15 in the quarter.
 
The Lady Braves didn't go down without a fight and were able to trim the deficit to 60-52 after a lay-up by Clark. Though, they couldn't get any closer as a 10-0 spurt by the Aggies later in the quarter put the game out of reach.
 
Brooke Salas submitted a triple-double of 32 points, 22 rebounds and 11 blocks for NMSU. The Aggies were an astounding 21-for-23 (.913) from the free throw line in the game.
 
In the tournament opener, Alcorn missed its first eight shots against the Panthers before Hargrove hit a jumper, but the Lady Braves were behind 8-2.
 
Alcorn could never really get settled into the contest – it trailed 23-7 at the end of the first quarter and by 23 mid-way through the second. FIU's largest lead was 71-30 with 5:35 to go in the fourth.
 
The Lady Braves took care of the ball against the Panthers and held a +3 turnover margin, but couldn't overcome a 14-for-65 (.215) shooting mark.
 
Alcorn will have over a week off from competition before it concludes non-conference play at TCU on Saturday, Dec. 29 at 2 p.m.
 
NOTES
- It was the first-ever meeting between Alcorn and FIU. The Lady Braves dropped to 1-4 all-time against NMSU, but it was the first meeting under head coach Courtney G. Pruitt.
 
- The Lady Braves entered the tournament leading the SWAC in offensive rebounding with 16.1 per game. Alcorn pulled down 14 offensive boards against FIU and a whopping 33 vs. NMSU.
 
- Hall became the third Alcorn student-athlete to record a double-double this year along with Isler and Walker. Hall was one-point shy of her career-high of 13 against Northwestern State, and matched her career-high with 12 rebounds. She posted her third double-figure scoring and third double-digit rebounding games of the season.
 
- Walker is up to eight double-figure scoring games, and Isler five double-digit rebounding games on the year.
 
- Hargrove continues to be a workhorse for Alcorn. She played 34 minutes against FIU and 39 vs. NMSU after entering the tournament leading the league in minutes played. Hargrove grabbed seven rebounds and four steals against the Aggies which matched her career-highs. She etched her 11th career double-figure scoring game and sixth this season.

2018 FIU ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM 
Savannah Jones (MVP) – South Alabama
Brooke Salas - New Mexico State
Jada Hargrove - Alcorn
Chelsea Guimaraes - FIU
Paula Orenes - FIU
Shaforia Kines - South Alabama 
 
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