Women's Basketball | 2/16/2018 4:09:00 PM

Road Swing Sees Lady Braves at AAMU Saturday, ASU on Monday

Alabama A&M: Game Notes | Radio
Alabama State: Game Notes | Live Stats | Live Video | Radio

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Alcorn State University women's basketball program are looking to build off their win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last Monday as they head to Alabama A&M and Alabama State this weekend. The team starts the road swing with a 3 p.m. game at AAMU's T.M. Elmore Gymnasium Saturday.
 
The Lady Braves (10-14, 6-7 SWAC) have been led by senior guards Tia Sanders and Alexus Freeman, who are averaging 15.7 and 14.8 points. Senior forward Miracle Rushing grabs 9.1 boards per game, Freeman has 95 steals, and junior guard Cloe Lane and freshman forward Jamaysha Bernard each have 12 blocks.
 
"We've got a tough team in Alabama A&M coming up," said head coach Courtney G. Pruitt. "They execute very well in the half court, but we've go to get points out of our press. We also have to keep them from going downhill and scoring defensively. Post defense and rebounding are going to be keys for us. We've got our hands tied and we've watched film, so we just have to be prepared."
 
Alcorn is shooting 580-1545 (37.5 percent) from the field, including 143-464 (30.8 percent) from beyond the arc, and 255-437 (58.4 percent) at the charity stripe. The Purple and Gold are scoring 64.9 points (-5.1) with 37.4 boards (-5.0), 12.9 assists, 20.3 turnovers, 12.0 steals, and 2.1 blocks.
 
Alabama A&M | Feb. 17 | 3 p.m.
 
The Lady Bulldogs (9-14, 4-8 SWAC) dropped a home game 55-44 to Alabama State last Saturday. Ashlyn Dotson tallied 15 points with three boards to lead AAMU on offense. Defesively, Aubriana Bonner had eight rebounds with three steals and two assists.
 
Dotson leads the Lady Bulldogs in scoring at 8.7 points per game, and Nigeria Jones follows with 7.7 points. Natalie Collins is the go-to option from distance with 39 threes this season and Kenisha Tharpe is the top rebounder with 6.2 rebounds per outing. Dotson owns 11 blocks and Jones has 31 blocks to anchor the defense.
 
AAMU shoots 493-1397 (35.3 percent) from the field, 90-379 (23.7 percent) from long distance, and 195-318 (61.3 percent) at the free-throw line. The team averages 55.3 points (-6.4), 39.3 rebounds (+1.8), 18.7 turnovers, 7.0 steals, and 1.9 blocks per contest.
 
The teams met in Lorman, Miss. on Jan. 10 with Alcorn erasing a 10-point deficit to win 57-52. Miracle Rushing recorded a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double and Alexus Freeman scored a team-high 16 points with five assists.
 
The Lady Braves will be looking to sweep the Lady Bulldogs for the fourth consecutive season.
 
Alabama State | Feb. 19 | 5:30 p.m.
 
The Lady Hornets (7-16, 5-7 SWAC) are right behind Alcorn in the conference standings after the win over Alabama A&M last weekend. Tatyana Calhoun led the way with 14 points and three other players finished with eight.
 
Calhoun and Keimeshia Walker lead ASU with 9.7 and 8.4 points, respectively. Amber Hunt and Kenya Pye have a combined 36 threes, while Calhoun and Kayla Stephens pull down 6.0 and 4.8 rebounds. Areleatha Gipson and Calhoun are the defensive leaders with 34 steals and 33 blocks, respectively.
 
ASU has made 443-1213 (36.5 percent) of its shots from the floor, 73-295 (24.7 percent) from deep, and 300-477 (62.9 percent) at the stripe. The Lady Hornets net 54.7 points (-14.3) with 37.4 rebounds (-0.9), 10.3 assists, 21.5 turnovers, 6.4 steals, and 3.2 blocks per outing.
 
In the first meeting back on Jan. 22, three Lady Braves reached double figures as Alcorn earned a 73-41 wire-to-wire victory. Sanders and Freeman led the way with 23 and 20 points, and Rushing finished with 12.
 
Alcorn is looking to sweep the regular season series for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
 
NOTES
 
- With her two steals against UAPB, Freeman has now played 23 straight games with multiple steals.
 
- Sanders now has 61 threes on the season. The Pensacola, Fla. Transplant needs two more to tie for third on the program's single-season record and eight more to tie with Kierra Levy's mark of 69, set in 2002-03.
 
- Through games played on Feb. 15, Freeman is fourth in the nation in steals and fifth in steals per game (3.96 spg).
 
- The win over AAMU was Alcorn's lowest-scoring of the season and was the team's first at home in league play.
 
- The Lady Braves are 3-4 on the road in SWAC competiton.
 
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