HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Alabama A&M took an early lead and pulled away in the second half as the Alcorn State University women's basketball program dropped a 74-63 decision at Elmore Gymnasium on Saturday.
Sophomore Jada Hargrove was near perfect as she went 5-6 from the floor, 3-3 from distance, and 4-4 at the charity stripe to lead Alcorn in the loss with a season-high 17 points. She added four rebounds, three of them on offense, with an assist. Senior guard Alexus Freeman also reached double figures with 11 points and senior guard Tia Sanders followed with nine. Senior forward Miracle Rushing contributed seven points and a team-high seven boards.
The Lady Braves shot 21-55 (38.2 percent) from the field, including 10-24 (41.7 percent) from beyond the arc, and 11-17 (64.7 percent) at the free-throw line.
AAMU (10-15, 6-8 SWAC) opened the scoring on a Natalie Collins' three-pointer, but Hargrove scored a layup and Freeman knocked down a trey of her own as Alcorn went up 5-3. It would be the only lead of the game for the Lady Braves, however, as the hosts took over. The Lady Bulldogs used a 17-7 swing to take a 20-12 advantage into the second quarter.
Junior guard Cloe Lane connected from long distance to cut AAMU's lead to 20-15 early in the second, but Alcorn was never able to get any closer. Late in the first half, Sanders answered another Collins' long ball to get the lead back to single digits with less than a minute to play, but Alexandra Johnson put up a bucket and A&M took a 39-28 edge into the break.
Alcorn played a better second half as the teams matched each other with 25 points. After a Nigeria Jones bucket pushed the score to 47-30 in favor of AAMU, Hargrove hit a three-pointer to ignite a 9-0 run. Collins finally put up a long ball to end the four-minute drought, but Freeman and redshirt-sophomore guard Brianna Tolliver each went 2-2 at the line to pull to within seven, 50-43 with 1:44 remaining in the third.
The Lady Bulldogs put together a 9-0 run of their own in the first half of the final quarter, highlighted by 7-8 shooting at the stripe, to go up 65-46 at the 6:07 mark in the fourth. Alcorn would outscore the home team 19-18 in the final 10 minutes, but AAMU's lead proved too much to overcome.
Alcorn scored more points off turnovers (23-18) and more second-chance points (19-16). AAMU held its largest lead of 19 with 6:07 left in the fourth. The game featured one tie and four lead changes.
The team will wrap up the road trip Monday in Montgomery, Ala. as the Lady Braves play Alabama State in a 5:30 game at the Dunn-Oliver Acadome.
Notes
- Alabama A&M avoids the sweep and snaps Alcorn's seven-game winning streak against the Lady Bulldogs. The win was the first for the Lady Bulldogs since 2013-14.
- Hargrove's previous scoring high was 13 points at Arkansas-Pine Bluff back on Jan. 15. Her 3-3 effort from beyond the arc also marks a season high.
- Sanders shot 3-11 from long range and now owns 64 threes this season to move into third on the program's single season record list. The Pensacola, Fla. native needs five more to match the record of 69, set by Kierra Levy in 2002-03.
- Sanders grabbed two steals on the night, marking her fifth game in a row with multiple steals.
- Freeman's streak of 24 consecutive games with multiple steals comes to an end as she didn't record one for the first time this season.
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